Naruto: A Different Path
by Apex Soldier
Summary: My name's Naruto. I'm the son of the Yondaime and hate everyone but my family and team, especially the Hyugas. It's their fault I lost half my family and they will pay! I swear this on my honor! Semi-Dark Strong Naruto, Naruhina... also Angst/Humor/Family
1. What the hell happened last night?

**Ok, technically, this isn't a new story since this is going to be the remake of my other story Calm before the Storm...**

**It's not that I didn't want to write it, just that the way I was going with it wasn't the way I wanted to go... I actually got the idea after watching the new movie Avatar... Damn that was a kick ass movie and I advise anyone that hasn't seen it to see it... it's really really really good!!!!**

** Anyway, this is going to get complicated because I have more than a few things to explain... ****Ok, here I go:**

******Everything before what you read is canon except for the fact that each shinobi wear a special bracelet... The bracelet has this special ability to give its owner metallic armor and weapons that represents their clan's animal... Its like... well, its like this metal band that expands and surrounds the user and gives them either metal claws, mask with fangs, tails or anything else that deals/represents their clan's animal [redundant but in simplest terms... I think]... For example, Naruto [Fox] will have metallic claws and a tail that's connected with his mind, moving at his will... **

******It's kind of hard to explain but if you still have questions then I'll be glad to answer... If this story becomes really popular, then I'mma be really surprised...**

**Ok, with that out of the way, i would once again like to say that this is a Semi-Dark Naruto fic... I'll explain later why he's dark but not now... Oh and he hates the Hyugas... just thought I should mention that... Don't get me wrong, this is a Naruhina fic but... *sigh* just please read it, they'll get together at some point, but not now...**

******_"The price of hating other human beings is loving oneself less."  
~Eldridge Cleaver~_**

**Chapter 1/Prologue: What the hell happened last night?**

**I don't own Naruto!**

* * *

As I lay on my back, my blood seeping through my open wounds, I wondered how exactly I got myself in this predicament. It just didn't make sense; it was a simple recon mission and somehow, I'm on my back and am staring at the beautiful night sky with Death breathing down my neck, waiting for its payment.

How did I get here? Why am breathing my last breath? Why am I almost dead? And…

"NARUTO!"

Why is someone screaming my name?

**[*.*.Naruto.*.*]**

"Wake up!" My eyes scrunch up as I feel someone grab onto my shoulders and start to shake me violently.

"I said wake up!" I feel a stinging sensation on my right cheek as I wake from my slumber and open my eyes to a blurry world.

"You idiot, we're going to be late." I hear the same voice from before say. I turn my left and see my teammate, Sakura Haruno, removing her shirt and throw it to the open closet before looking for a clean shirt to wear. I grunt as I rub my cheek and sit up straight.

"Where's Sasuke?" I managed to ask, albeit a bit incoherent. She turns to me just as she pulls down her white tank top and straightens her pink sweat pants.

"He left with Kakashi-sensei to get our stuff ready for the mission with Team 8. They said something about too much ramen and not enough people food." I scoffed as I looked the other way, there was no such thing as too much ramen. The word 'Team 8' rang in my head and I scowled.

"Now hurry up and get ready, the mission starts in an hour." Sakura ordered. I snorted as I jumped off my bed.

"Tell my again why we have to do a joint mission with the Aburame, Inuzuka and… and… AH! You see, I can't even say the last one's name!" I yelled with my voice dripping with venom while Sakura giggled.

"Hyuga, the last one is Hyuga. And we have to because your dad, the Hokage, ordered us to." Sakura reminded me and I rolled my eyes, sometimes my dad was a major pain. "Please Naruto, for the mission's sake, don't start a fight with Team 8, especially with the Hyuga girl. You don't know her… hell, I don't even know her. All I know is that we went to the academy together, along with the other graduates." Sakura told me and I took in a deep breath. Team 8, for some reason, just thinking about it made me want to pull out my bright blond hair from my head.

It wasn't Team 8 in particular I had a problem with, just their family. You see, the village I live in, Konohagakure or Konoha for short, is a village that produces competent shinobi and kunoichi. We, as shinobi, use our unique skills to help the economy of our village by doing missions for just about anyone who is able to afford our services.

These missions range from assassinations and infiltrations to babysitting and gardening. The latter usually being done by fresh out the academy genin, which is something I am not. I am a jonin and… am sixteen. Very young, yes, I know, so I've been told but because of my… tenant… I'm a very, _very _special case. I jump off my bed and grab my towel while I head for the bathroom; I really need a shower.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand, because this is a shinobi village, we have many clans that have different abilities. However, even if we all have different powers, they are all labeled into the same category… animal oriented.

The thing is, Konoha shinobi are very spiritual shinobi and every clan has its own animal. For example, my clan, the Namikaze clan, has the Toads, the Haruno clan has slugs and the Uchiha clan has ravens. Our families have been on the same team since the beginning of Konoha and have always been friends. The other clans have their own animals but I don't really feel like mentioning all of them.

I turn on the shower and immediately get in, relishing the feel of hot water streaming down my body. Though I don't enjoy for long as I think about my village; it's terribly divided and that's not good.

Every clan and team hates each other and whenever we're in each other's presence, it just makes us want to knock each other's teeth down their throat. Me, I personally don't hate the Nara, Yamanaka, or the Akimichi clans but the Hyuga, Inuzuka and Aburame clans… that's something different. It's just that…

I grab onto my dog tag around my neck, looking down on it as I stare at the picture it holds. Small tears fall from my eyes. Why… why did she have to leave? Why did they take her away from me?

**_Knock knock knock_**

"Come on Naruto! We don't have all day!" I hear Sakura yell from the other side of the door. I smirk as I turn off the water.

"Yeah alright, I'm out already. Ya happy?" I ask and I hear footsteps walking away; not sure what to make of that. I chuckle as I grab my towel and start to dry myself off. I run my hand across my left wrist and feel the warm metal against my skin. I stare at it before I wrap the towel around my waist and exiting the bathroom. A sigh escapes my lips as I make my way to my room; why Team 8? What's so special about this mission that it needs my team and their team?

I put on a dark orange, sleeveless muscle shirt and black sweatpants before my socks and black boots. I rotate my foot before being satisfied with its flexibility; best boots ever! I stomp my feet on the floor before getting up and heading for the living room. However, I didn't see Sasuke's dirty shirt on the floor so I ended up tripping over it.

**_Boom_**

"Ow." I say as I get up and curse under my breath. I get up and throw Sasuke's shirt to his bed. "Stupid Sasuke." I commented and after which I left. I grab my backpack from the couch and open the door which leads to the outside world.

"Hold on Naruto, I still need to grab my stuff!" Sakura shouted but I don't reply I just wait outside. I look to the side and see civilians walking by my house, either scowling at me or minding their own business. They better mind their own business because one day I will snap and I will attack those who see me as my tenant. Fucking closed minded fools, they will get theirs one day, just not now.

"Ok, let's go, Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke should be at the North Gate by now." I turn to Sakura as she locks the door behind her and then closes it. I nod my head as I start to walk to the North Gate. Sakura catches up to me and notices the frown on my face but I don't care; I never did. After she broke my heart by going out with Sasuke, I didn't care what she thought about me.

"Hey Naruto, you know that it doesn't matter what these jerks thinks, they're not your family," I feel her place a comforting hand on my left shoulder. "Team 7 is your family and as long as we accept you, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks." I smile as I close my eyes; she's always doing this.

"I know Sakura, I still remember when you told me this yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that, and…"

"Ok I get it; I say it all the time. I'm just letting you know that people do care about you." Sakura interrupted and I chuckled.

"Maybe but now's not the time to talk about this." I reply as I pick up my pace. I really don't feel like talking, I'm still a little pissed about the joint mission. The Hyuga clan is just a bunch of condescending asses that shoved their sticks just a bit too high for their comfort. Now, I have to go on a mission with one; oh joy, what fun I'll have.

"Oi, fox boy!" I growl as I hear my nickname from the village idiot; that must mean I made it to the North Gate. Man time flies when you're not paying attention.

I look to where I heard my nickname and see a smirking Kiba with his giant dog, Akamaru, looking at me. That smug look on his face makes me want to kick his ass all over Konoha. My eyes focus on his friend to his left, Shino Aburame. It was barely noticeable but I just saw him release one of his bugs just in case I decide to attack his teammate. They're both paranoid; even if I don't need their pathetic team to finish this mission, it's not like I have another choice.

I look to Shino's left and see a cowering girl with dark blue hair. She's red in the face and can't even look me in the eye. What the hell's her problem anyways? What did I ever do to her that she's too scared to look me in the eyes? Oh, I get it; she was told of my tenant and is too afraid to even look at me, thinking that I would kill her with my eyes only. Hn, pathetic.

"The hell do you want dog-breath?" I ask nonchalantly and already Kiba looks like he's about to have a meltdown; some shinobi he is.

"What did you say?!" He asked, clearly seeing red; even his dog looks like he's going to attack me. I smile as I see his bracelet light up; he can't control his anger.

"What's wrong mutt? Are you so deaf that you can't hear me or are you too stupid to understand my big words?" I ask, continuing my taunt. I know I probably shouldn't but I can't help not too.

"Naruto!" Sakura scolded me after hearing my comment but I ignore her, I usually do.

"K-Kiba-kun, calm down." I hear a meek voice say. I see that it was the Hyuga who said that. My mind freezes as I see notice shy posture and eyes; she's a Hyuga? No, she couldn't be; she looked to be the exact opposite of a Hyuga. She seemed shy, kind hearted and delicate not confident, impassive and fierce. Still, her Hyuga eyes were a dead giveaway and I couldn't risk dropping my guard around her.

"Stay out of it." I say coldly to the girl.

**[*.*.Hinata.*.*]**

I gasp as I hear him tell me to stay out of the conversation. Why? What did I ever do to him besides love him?

I still can't believe I do but it's true, I love him. I don't hang around him and he doesn't seem to like me or my family but… but I can't help it. Since the academy, he's been a huge impact in my life. He never gives up and doesn't care what other people think of him. I wish I was more like that but sadly, I'm not and I can't. It's just not in my nature to not care about what people think about me; I'm just so paranoid about it and its just plain annoying.

"Hey, don't talk to my teammate like that!" Kiba-kun yells, trying to defend me.

"Or what mutt? Are you going to do something about it?" Naruto-kun said with a foxy smile and then he looked into my eyes. I blush as I stare into his cerulean eyes and my world immediately melts. However, it slowly comes back together when I here flesh being hit and a body hitting the ground. I shake my head and see Kiba-kun on the floor wiping the blood from his mouth and Naruto walking away from us with Sakura on his tail.

"Kiba-kun, a-are you ok?" I ask as I crouch down beside him and he snorts.

"Why do you like that jerk Hinata?" I stop my movements and my blush darkens.

"W-What do you mean?" I ask him and he smirks.

"You know exactly what I mean." Kiba-kun says and I look away. "Look, just be careful with him, he really doesn't like your family and I wouldn't doubt that he'd hurt you just to get back at your family." I gasp loudly this time.

"N-No Kiba-kun, that's n-not true." I say, more to reassure myself than Kiba-kun.

"Whatever, all I'm saying is to keep your guard up with him. I don't know what's wrong with him but whatever it is, it's definitely having some bad side effect on him." I nod my head as Kiba-kun stands up. I look to where Naruto is and see him sitting on the bench talking to Sakura. I sigh as I wish I could be as close to Naruto as Sakura is.

**[*.*.Naruto.*.*]**

"…and you know what's going to happen now? Kurenai-sensei is…" I drift in and out of Sakura's rant; I'm not in the mood to deal with her rant. I don't know what got into me when I punched Kiba but it felt good. I'm surprised Shino let it happen but that girl, what was up with her? She seemed to drift into her own thoughts after looking into my eyes; she was seriously a weird girl.

"Are you even listening to me?!" Sakura shrieked and I flinch.

"Dam Sakura, you're too loud. And no, I'm not, I'm not in the mood." I answer her and she shakes her head.

"You're never in the mood." She commented and I chuckle which confuses her.

"You make us seem like we're married." I say and after registering it, she blushes.

"S-Shut up." She replied back which makes me laugh harder. "What?!"

"You sound like that weird girl on Team 8." I managed to say and felt Sakura punch my arm.

"Be nice! She's not weird, just shy." Sakura told me, trying to defend the weird girl.

"Heh-heh, sure, whatever you say."

"And her name's Hinata just so you know." My laugh dies down as I lie back onto the bench and place my hands behind my head.

"Not like I care." I'm pretty sure Sakura was about to say something but I only heard the sounds of multiple footsteps heading my way. I look to the side to see Kakashi, Sasuke, Kurenai, Shino, Kiba with Akamaru and Hinata walking over to me and Sakura.

"Yo!" Kakashi greeted and I smirk.

"Yo!" I answer back. I get up and bump knuckles with Sasuke and then put my hands in my pockets. "So what the hell is the point of this mission?" I ask and chuckle as I see Kurenai scowl at me.

"The point of this mission is to locate a dangerous group of S-ranked missing nins." Kakashi answered.

"But, I thought the Akatsuki was dead already." I say, saying what everyone was thinking.

"They are but this deals with different missing nins. With Team 8 as the tracking team and Team 7 as the combat team. We'll follow Team 8 as they locate the missing nins and then Team 7 will take them down and bring them back to Konoha; simple as that." Kakashi explained, eye smiling at the end. Kurenai nodded and I scoffed.

"Whatever." Everyone besides my team scowl at me, well almost everyone, Hinata didn't. Seriously, is she really a Hyuga?

"We should probably head out now; the sooner we get this done, the better." I hear Kurenai say and everyone muttered in agreement.

"Ok everyone, listen no because I won't repeat myself. We're going to divide into four groups; not now but when we know where the missing nins' HQ is. The groups are going to be me and Kurenai; Sasuke and Sakura; Shino and Kiba; and Naruto and Hinata." I suppress a groan; how the hell is Kakashi going to pair me up with Hinata of all people? We're opposite in terms of… well everything and now he wants to team us up? Oh I'm so going to get him back for this.

"Any problems?" I raised my hand after hearing Kurenai's questions but she ignores it. "Good, now that that's settled, let's go. Stay close to your partner and don't let them out of your sight and reach. Got that?" Again everyone mutters in agreement except for me. I actually ignore the rest of Kurenai's speech about team work and start talking to Sasuke.

"Man, I can't believe I'm teamed with Hinata." I say and he chuckles.

"Could be worse, you could have gone with Kiba." Sasuke joked and I fake a laugh.

"Ha-ha so fucking funny Sasuke." He punches my shoulder.

"I try. Come on, it's only for a week or so and besides, you just might end up falling for the girl." I glare at him like he told me that they were never making ramen again.

"Don't even play like that."

"Who says I'm playing?" Sasuke and I get into a glaring contest until Sakura grabs us from behind the head and makes us bump our forehead. I retract my head and hold it in pain.

"Ah, dobe, you have such a hard head!" I chuckle weakly.

"You're one to talk." I said through my clenched teeth.

"Let's go! We're burning daylight!" Kiba shouted. Team 8 was the first to leave Konoha as my team followed after them. I really didn't care, as long as we get this mission done and fast. I look down at my bracelet again and watch it shine from the morning sun. I activate it and metallic parts cover my entire right and left hand, giving me red metallic claws.

I close and open my hands, exercising the flexibility of it. The results are satisfying and I deactivate it.

"N-Naruto-kun." I get taken out of my thoughts when I hear my name being said. I look up and see Hinata walking beside me with that red shade in her cheeks and her eyes looking away.

"Don't add the 'kun', only my friends can say that." I see her become crescent fallen and I couldn't help but feel like crap for it; though it's not like I'd let anyone know that.

"O-Oh… o-ok then N-Naruto-ku… I mean, Naruto."

"So what do you want?" I asked her.

"I-I just wanted to k-know if you a-are ok. You seemed d-distracted by something." Hm, that's a first; someone who cares about me and a Hyuga no less. Ha, yeah right.

"What does it matter to you, it's not like you care." I said and she looked at me like I told her that she's going to die which isn't entirely a lie. She just has to hit the wrong buttons and I can make that lie a fact.

"B-But I do care." Now I look at her like she told me I'm going to die.

"What?" I think I said that too forceful because she took a step away from me.

"I-I do care i-if you're ok. Y-You and I are f-from the same v-village, so that m-makes us t-teammates, almost like a family." I instinctively glare at her, making her back away. I can't believe a Hyuga just told me that; they're the reason why I'm missing half of my family! I take in a deep breath and calm down; I'll deal with her after the mission but for now, I need her alive.

"What would you know?" I said that lowly but she heard me and shocked me with her reply.

"Y-You're right, I don't know." She paused as I stared at her in shock. "I-I d-don't know what a-a real f-family is… b-but I think my t-teammates are my family. A-At least, I see them a-as my f-family." As I looked at her remorseful face, I couldn't help but wonder what she meant. She was a Hyuga, they had tons of relatives living in one compound; how would she not know what a family was? Before I could ask her, she looked up at me with a fake smile.

"F-Forget I s-said anything, I-I'll just leave you a-alone now." After that, she walked faster so she would be five steps ahead of me. I look at her before sighing and thinking I was right, she was weird.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Later that night, I slept on my sleeping bag with Kakashi sleeping next to me and Sasuke on the other side. Kiba and Shino would be in here if it wasn't for the fact that they believed I'd prank them if they did, which wasn't a bad idea. Anyway, while I 'slept' I couldn't help but hear Sasuke and Kakashi talk about me. It wasn't anything I hadn't heard before and it wasn't bad, I just hated when people talked about me behind my back. What was it about me that made it impossible to talk about me with me there?

From my guess, it's probably midnight or so. I got up and quietly made my way outside to the cold night air. The cold wind hit my skin and I shivered slightly, getting used to the cold. I start to walk around the woods I was in, no use in standing doing nothing when I could just walk around doing nothing. My mind starts to wander on the mission; Team 8 finds the missing nins that are causing trouble for local stores and villages while my team knocks them out and brings them back, simple enough.

Team 8; ha, what a joke. They're nothing but weak shinobi wasting time playing ninja. Kurenai was probably the best in her team and even then, I had no doubt that I could take her out without a problem. Genjutsu, no threat at all. Shino's bug, they couldn't handle my dark chakra. Kiba and Akamaru, well they already know how strong I am and that I can beat them down at any time. Hinata and her family's fighting style… well she would probably give me a hard time but nothing I can't handle.

Besides, she lacks the confidence to be a true kunoichi and I know this with just the small amount of time I spent with her. I wouldn't say this out loud but if she grew a backbone, she'd probably give me a run for my money. At best, Hinata could probably specialize in seduction. I mean, she had a killer body even if she hid it under her jacket. I can vouch for her since I haven't exactly seen it but I can tell she does. She was a girl with low self-esteem and constantly belittles herself. Why else would she wear a jacket that big?

I tense up when I hear a splash and then a girl yelp in surprise. I run to where I heard the girl but stop short as soon as I see a silhouette. I hide from behind the closest tree and watch the silhouette get out of the lake she was in and stand on the water. My eyes narrow as I realize that the silhouette was a shinobi and by its figure, a girl no less. I activate the bracelet and metallic claws replace my human fingers.

I walk closer to the lake as I watch the girl shake from the cold and start to head for the shore. However the way she walked was strange; she walked like a four legged animal. I saw her tail twitch behind her and I felt a feeling wash over me. This feeling seemed to knock the breath out of me as I fell to me knees and gasped for air. I was slowly fading from my world but before I lost consciousness, I saw my bracelet glow an eerie red. Whatever was happening, this was the first I've seen of it.

**[*.*.*.*]**

"What the hell did I eat yesterday?" I asked no one in particular as I woke up with the sun's light in my eyes. I'm not sure what happened last night but whatever happened, I was seriously sore. I tried to stand but something heavy and warm was on top of me. My mind froze and my body tensed; whatever was on top of me, it was breathing. I was almost too afraid to look down to see what was on me but since my team was probably up and looking for me, I don't want them to find out before I do.

Slowly, my eyes and head look downward and the dark blue mop of hair makes me wish I never looked down. Sleeping right on my chest was Hinata and she was naked. Holy crap, what happened yesterday!

To make matters worse, I felt a breeze hit me where I should never feel a breeze. Looking beyond Hinata, I see my own body… without clothes…

"What the hell?!!"

* * *

**Ok, so that's it... Like I said, I got this idea from watching Avatar... In retrospect, I don't know how I did since this didn't really happen in the movie but whatever... Oh and one thing I forgot to mention is that Minato is alive and Akatsuki and Orochimaru are dead... I'm not going to deal with them since I got something else planned... This 'thing' i got planned will make it so that the fact that there is no big enemy present won't be an issue...**

**OH and in the beginning where Naruto's dying at one point then waking at the next, that wasn't a dream... Half of the story is going to be like a huge flashback... He's basically recalling what happened before his incident....**

**Heheheh sorry if some things don't make sense, I'm a bit off today since I typed this at... well its 4 in the morning now so yeah... Also, please don't hate me because Naruto's a jackass to everyone, especially Hinata but that'll change... sooner or later...**

**Again, any questions, just ask in a review or Pm and if you gotta flame, be calm about it... I understand normal words like 'this sux' or 'this is pointless and no plot.' etc, etc... I don't need you cussing at me to tell me it sux... But yeah, do what you like... **

**Oh and if you're going to review/PM me, can you tell me if I should continue the story in ****1****st**** person POV or should I go back to my usual 3****rd**** person POV? Please let me know...**

******Next Chapter: I h****ate myself like I hate you...**

**********Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**


	2. It was you

**Yo! its been a while neh?**

**Sorry, my muse for this story comes and goes as it pleases... mostly goes...**

**Well before I forget anything, I decided to do a favor for KingKakashi... here goes:**

**"Have you ever wondered "Who is the hottest, sexiest, most beautiful girl ever created in the world of anime?" Well now's your chance to vote for your own Top 10. Kingkakashi besides having a great story has set-up a poll about this very question on his profile page. Help answer and settle this issue once and for all."**

**So there you go, I already voted and you, as readers, should too... Though I'm not making anyone vote...**

**I'm sorry once again for the very very VERY late update...**

**My muse is an odd thing... and I didn't check this over... sorry, not time on my part...**

**Anyways, hope you like the chapter ^^**

**Chapter 2: It was you...  
[Yeah, I know i changed the chapter's title..]**

**I don't won Naruto...**

**

* * *

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**[*.*.Naruto.*.*]**

I felt my blood rise to my face as I stared at Hinata's naked body. It was so… so prefect-wait no! That's not what I meant… I just meant that she has a nice body-no, I didn't mean that either!

Ah, damn it! It's 'cause I can't think clearly… damn it, what happened yesterday after I passed out!

I cursed under my breath as I made a shadow clone and quickly switched myself with it. He was surprised at first and then mouthed some curious choice of words at me. Though I just shrugged it off, it was nothing I hadn't been told before.

My eyes had involuntarily moved to Hinata's naked and prone body. I blinked and looked away as I felt my blood start to rush to other places. I quickly looked around for any evidence of my or Hinata's clothes. After about five minutes, I was about to give up before seeing my black sweatpants. I ran over to them only to scowl at seeing them ripped. With a shrug, I put them on; better to preserve some of my modesty.

Again I started to search and luckily, I found Hinata's bulky sweater, which was cut from halfway, the bottom half was missing and… ahem, her panties…

Wrapping it into the jacket, I continued to search only to find a quarter of my orange muscle shirt, only of Hinata's sleeves and one shoe; it was too small for me, no thanks.

Kami seemed to be laughing in my face yet still sympathetic towards my situation because I managed to run into a cabin where someone's clothes where being dried. Unfortunately, they were only underwear and two shirts; both were too girly for my tastes.

With the swiftness I gained through years of training, I was able to grab the one of the shirts and the pie sitting outside the window. I stopped and put it back; cherry pie wasn't that great, I was more of an apple pie person myself…

Finally, satisfied with my search, I returned back to where I woke up only to see my clone eyeballing Hinata. I glowered, even if it wasn't that bad to look at-AH! There I go again!

I shook such thoughts out of my head as I replaced myself with my clone and then dispersed it. I stared at Hinata's sleeping face and saw that she was glowing. Seriously, the hell did we do?

"Hey, wake up!" I said pretty loudly but I wouldn't consider it screaming… not by Sakura's standards anyways. She groaned as her eyes fluttered and she was slowly coming to. I saw her lavender eyes and I couldn't help but be reminded by a childhood crush but now was not the time for that either.

"Yeah, wake up, we're in big trouble." I continued and she looked up at me with those needy eyes of hers; however right now, they weren't needy as much as… is that lust?

Before I could even consider this, she moved her body up and with not even so much as a second thought lip locked with me. My eyes widened as I suddenly became paralyzed from the neck down. Her tongue had darted into my mouth and began to dance with mine. Damn it! Why was mine moving at all!

It felt… different. I had never kissed anyone before, except for my mom but that was on the cheek. This one…

My mom…

I pushed her off me and I looked away with a blush. She blinked multiple times before common sense hit her and she stuttered an apology. I wasn't listening though; I was trying to be mad at her. But her lips…

"Eep!" I look at her and saw that she realized that she was naked over me. I smirked; any minute now she'd faint… wait, what reason did I have to smirk about? If she fainted, that'd be more work for me!

"Don't you dare faint on me!" I said and she looked at me again. "Listen, I don't know how the hell we got in this situation and honestly, I'm afraid to but whatever happened happened. There's nothing you, or I or Kakashi-sensei can do-KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Holy crap! What the hell is Kakashi-sensei doing here? Wait, what am I doing?

I swiftly moved over Hinata so now I was over her, blocking her goddess like body from Kakashi's sight. Stupid instincts.

"I thought you hated Hyugas, Naruto." I growled at his mockery and would've retorted but I couldn't find the will to confirm his mock.

"Get out of here!" I shouted and Kakashi raised his hands and eye smiled at me.

"Whatever you say." Without another word, he left, thank kami.

"N-Naruto-kun," I looked down to see Hinata with a blush more red than I thought possible. "W-What are we going to do?" She asked and I sighed.

"Like hell if I know." I answered which didn't seem like the answer she wanted. "Look, I woke up earlier and found some things for you to wear. It's not much but its better than how you are right now." I told her and she nodded… I think.

"Good, now go put this on and I'll tell you the lie we're going to tell everyone else… I'll take care of Kakashi-sensei." I said and she seemed hesitant to comply. "What?" I asked a little too forcefully seeing as she flinched.

"I-I don't want to lie." She said and I groaned.

"Well then you want to tell them that we both woke up naked and next to each other? If so then go right ahead; I was doing this so you wouldn't have to tell your team about this." She looked away with a thoughtful look and I sighed. That was only half the truth; if word of this spread out then it could cause a lot of trouble form me, the Namikaze clan, her and the Hyuga clan. Personally, I don't care what the hell happens to that high-and-mighty clan but I needed a reputation to uphold. With this, I could be ruined.

"Now go before another idiot shows up." I said and she immediately started to change. "NOT IN FRONT OF ME!" I shouted and she jumped before running behind a tree and bushes. I took in a deep breath; man, what is wrong with me today?

"Kakashi-sensei…" Like I thought, he appeared behind me, probably eye smiling that idiotic eye smile of his. "Tell anyone and I will destroy all of your Icha Icha books. Even the one you think I don't know about." I turned to him and smirked at seeing his terrified look. "That's right, I know about your little stash you keep under a genjutsu behind the memorial stone."

"Fine but what do you plan on doing about… you know."

"Nothing happened!" I told him but he seemed less than convinced. "Seriously, all I remember yesterday is talking a walk, running into some animal or something and then nothing. I was knocked out or something, I don't know!"

Kakashi turned around so he could hide his face but I saw it. It was a look he gets when he realizes something but doesn't want anyone to find out about. Well, I'm going to find out about it.

"What do you know, Kakashi-sensei." It wasn't a question; it was an order. He looked at me with a nervous smile.

"Don't worry about it… yet." He disappeared and I cursed him out which I sure as hell hope he heard because I really don't want to repeat myself. I turned around to face some tree and smash my fist into it. No, that's not what happened; I slammed my fist through it.

"N-Naruto-kun." I turned and saw that she was finally dressed. It shouldn't have taken her long to get dressed; she probably either listened in on my conversation with Kakashi or didn't want to confront him in her current state. I wouldn't have doubted it if it was both.

"Ok, here's the lie _I'm_ going to say and the one _you're _going to agree with. We were attacked by one of the missing nins. He had long, brown hair with dark green eyes. He fought you first before I got involved and saved us but in the process, I accidently knocked us out with my rasengan; got it?" I asked her and she nodded, once again hesitant but as long as she was willing to cooperate, everything was fine.

"Let's go." I said and our trip back was silent. After ten minutes of walking, I noticed something that I decided to mention to Hinata.

"Hinata."

**[*.*.Hinata.*.*]**

To say that I was a little less than shocked would be an understatement. I woke up in the arms of Naruto-kun and kissed him, thinking it was a dream. When he pushed me off, I knew it was too real to be a dream. I almost fainted when I found out I was naked and on him but for some reason, I didn't.

I dressed up and heard his conversation with Kakashi-sensei; he was hiding something, he knew something; that much was obvious. The only thing I wanted to know was what. Also, what did happen yesterday? And why do I feel sore… down there. Oh no, we didn't…

"Hinata." I looked at him and saw that he was in a solemn mood and walked with an almost unnoticeable limp; I noticed though. Was he sore too… why doesn't that make me feel any better about my own soreness?

"Calm down." He told me and I wondered what he meant. I tripped and cried out in pain at feeling pain shoot up from my left ankle to my shin. He sighed and crouched beside me. "This is what I was talking about; you were walking to fast and too engrossed in your own thoughts to notice anything." He told me and I blushed and looked away.

It came as a shock to me when he grabbed my foot, examined it and started to message it. I felt pain shoot up my leg again before it started to reduce. My eyes closed themselves and I moaned as I felt his callous hands move over my skin. I opened my eyes, hoping that he hadn't heard me moan but knew he did because of the blush he had. Wait, blush? Did I do that?

"Ah, Naruto-kun… you're b-being a little rough." I said and his blush deepened.

"Be glad I'm doing this at all." He said and I frowned; why was he so cold to me? I moaned again as pain turned to pleasure and his hands moved upward to my shin. "Feel any better?" He asked and I nodded.

"A-A little." I answered and he nodded. I bit my lower lip as I dared to speak. "W-Why…" I stopped though, thinking it'd be a bad idea to continue.

"Why what?" He said and looked at me. "You can't just start saying something and not finish." He said and I bit down a little harder on my lip.

"Why are you s-so cold to me?" I asked, half glad I said it, the other half regretting it. He looked away and glared at the ground.

"Don't take it personal; I treat Neji even worse." He told me though it didn't make me feel better. If anything, it made me a little angry.

"Why?" I asked, more forceful than before.

"Because I don't like Hyugas; I have a personal vendetta against your clan; your father specifically." He answered and I stared at him intensely while he continued to rub my foot. However, I was slowly getting too curious and too irritated at the same time to notice, even as his hand continued to travel upward.

"WHAT DID MY CLAN EVER DO TO YOU? WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE YOUR HATE WHEN I ONLY TRIED TO-" I stopped myself before I got too far. I know I shouted, I know it isn't like me to yell but… something in me was influencing me to yell, to get angry. I had never felt such irritation, such adrenaline… such confidence to speak my mind. Now I really want to know what happened yesterday… maybe so I could do it again.

"Your clan… is the reason why I lost my mom." He answered solemnly, something I wasn't expecting. I was expecting him to yell at me and I was even prepared to yell back. "The reason I lost my sister." His voice was slowly getting louder.

"Your father is the one who asked for their deaths!" He yelled at me, much to my shock. I might've been ready for him to yell back, but not this.

"W-What?" I stuttered and he scoffed.

"What do you mean 'what'? You're also the main reason they're dead!" Again, I was not prepared for this. What's more, he started to look more feral, more animalistic. His bracelet was glowing, something I never seen it do. I tensed when I felt his hand only a few inches away from my womanhood. What was he doing?

He growled and then purred as his hands started to trace the inside of my thighs. Then, something in my mind snapped after hearing his purr and I pounced on top of him. Over him, I saw a fox like smirk go over his face and I smiled seductively. I didn't know what I was doing; I had no control over my body but for some reason, I had remained conscious enough to see what my body was doing. And I'll tell you, it was doing a lot of stuff.

It bit down on Naruto-kun's neck and made him bleed. On the inside, I was yelling at myself, hoping I hadn't hurt him but he only chuckled as turned us around and was now over me. This time, it was his turn to bite down on my neck till it bled. I didn't feel the pain but apparently, my body did as I hissed and wrap my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck.

He let out a primitive roar as his bracelet expanded and created a red fox tail near his lower back and gave him two metallic fox ears. I felt cold metal cover parts of my body; particularly a purple, slim tail for my lower back and two short panther like ears.

Is this what happened yesterday?

With no control of my body, I pushed him so he was on his back and I jumped on him, straddling his waist. Slowly moving up, I bent forward and started to lick his cheek. His hands, which were covered with red, metallic claws, moved to my waist and started to softly scratch me. I purred as my own metallic claws moved across his bare chest, leaving a total of eight lines; four going down vertically from the left side and another four from the right side.

The pain seemed to add to his pleasure and I didn't know if I wanted to look away as it continued or to cheer myself on. There was seriously something wrong with me…

He ripped off my tan sweater and I internally gasped as he grabbed my left breast and turned us around, once again taking his place over me. Even with the white shirt on, it did nothing to protect me from his assault on my breast. No matter how great it felt, I should not have enjoyed it… but I did.

We probably would've gone farther but luckily or unluckily, a kunai made us jump away from each other.

**[*.*.Kurenai.*.*]**

Not many things surprised me…

For instance, I knew Naruto would act like a brat, especially after hearing about being teamed up with the sweetest person alive. Oh, I knew about the history between the two clans and the animosity they both shared but still, I was hoping for some peace.

However, this display, this act Naruto and Hinata were committing… this was not the peace I was talking about.

I had to stop it so I threw a kunai between them just so they'd separate. It seemed to work but now, they were both acting hostile against me. Naruto I expected but not Hinata.

"What are you two doing?" I shrieked; no point in hiding my presence since I threw a kunai at them. They however hissed or growled at me as their bracelet each gave them a chest plate and claw like gauntlets/boots to their feet.

I could only curse under my breath as I could hear my own instincts telling me to make a run for it. So I turned and ran back to camp but what intrigued me was the fact that I heard no sounds of being followed. I stopped and looked back to find out why I was being followed. Naruto had his mouth hanging open and facing me while an enormous amount of chakra was being concentrated in it.

Kakashi had told me before that originally, his father's spiritual animal was the toads and his mother's was the sea serpents. Unfortunately, around the same time of his birth, the Kyūbi attacked Konoha. His father was originally going to be the one to sacrifice his life to seal the best but his predecessor, the Sandaime, took his place; bless his soul.

It would seem that instead of taking either of his parents' spiritual animal, he took on the fox's.

At any rate, Naruto had learned plenty of tricks from his jailor before the fusion was complete and this was one of the Kyūbi's most devastating attacks.

I ran again, hoping to get out of Naruto's range before he shot it off and completely annihilated me. Unleashing my spiritual animal, I gained the paws of a cheetah, fell on all fours and was able to just make it out of the attack's range.

I had no doubt that at least Kakashi heard or saw this.

**[*.*.Kakashi.*.*]**

Young love always confused me; I never perfectly understood it even when I was going through it. Naruto and Hinata helped me realized that I was getting old and fast.

Since when did you hate a girl and then slept with her. There was no way Hinata and Naruto didn't 'experiment' together, especially when they were both as naked as the day they were born.

My thoughts would have to wait it seemed as I sensed Naruto's Menacing Ball shake the ground under me and his demonic chakra hit me in waves. A second later, I'm surprised to see Kurenai in her cheetah form while panting heavily.

"Kurenai?" Kurenai looks up at me and glares.

"Your student is starting to annoy me." She says and I sweat drop.

"Sasuke can be a bit of a handful sometimes." I joked and her glare intensifies.

"She's talking about the dobe." I turn around and see Sasuke glaring at me as well. My response is to chuckle sheepishly while his is to roll his eyes. He then looks at the direction where Naruto's demonic chakra came from. "What the hell is the dobe doing?" He asked no one in particular. I could only giggle perversely as an idea popped in my head.

I wasn't allowed to voice my idea, though, because a hard bop to my head by a metallic claw stops me.

"Don't say a word." Kurenai whispered in my head and I nodded my head, especially because she has one of her claws poking at my tender place. She relieved my tender place of her claw and I couldn't help but cry at the almost lost of my 'buddy'.

I look around and noticed that the remaining member of Team 7 and 8 were too busy looking at the mushroom clouds to notice Kurenai's threat to my 'buddy'.

"Well, I think we should check that out. Who knows what kind of trouble Naruto might've gotten himself and Hinata into." I say only to get a shocking look from Kiba and Sakura.

"Hinata's with him too?" They shout at me and I sweat drop. Kurenai gives me a look that tells me that I shouldn't say what I saw.

"She's not here is she?" I ask, unsure that they would buy it. Luckily enough, they seemed to believe it but the looks on Sasuke and Shino tell me that I should've given a better excuse… or at least should've put on my poker face. "Come on team, let's pack up here and get moving." Everyone nods their head and I get an almost unnoticeable nod from Kurenai; she knew I was trying to buy Naruto and Hinata some time.

I can only hope that whatever was going on, we weren't going to come in on the wrong time.

**[*.*.Hinata.*.*]**

I shake my head as I finally come to. The last thing I remember before losing consciousness is seeing Kurenai-sensei. I think it's because I fainted.

Either way, when I woke up, I saw that I was in a cave or something. It was dark and… and surprisingly enough I wasn't as cold as I thought I would be. Blood races to my cheeks when I see why I wasn't so cold.

Holding me from my waist was Naruto, still in his fox form. His body radiated warmth and my body seemed to absorb it like a sponge. Another thing I noticed was that we still lacked enough clothes to cover up our modesty. The shirt I had only covered like half of my modesty. I feel dirty…

A moan distracts me from my thoughts as I hear Naruto start to wake up behind me. He took in a deep breath and sighed. I tensed when he took in another breath right on my neck; he took in my scent!

He seemed fascinated and a little 'excited' by my scent because not only did he do it again but I also felt his 'buddy' poke me about seven times. My mind comes up with some very explicit thoughts that I never thought I could come up with by myself. I suppose Naruto was sort of helping me but really, does it matter at this point?

I think he knew I was awake because he turned me to my back and was now over me. I squeaked out a gasp as my lavender eyes stare at his… his red eyes? Oh that's right; Kyūbi's a pretty big influence on him in this form.

I sighed; does this mean that a chakra beast that has wreaked havoc since before my time has a crush on me? I keep looking at his eyes and realize that it wasn't the Kyūbi looking down at me, it was Naruto. It was all Naruto but he also had a glassy look in his eyes. Was he delusional? Had he lost it?

He pressed his forehead against mine and gently licked my lips. I was shocked as he continued to do this before softly pressing his lips against mine. I can honestly say that I was not expecting this kind of treatment from him. Twenty four hours ago, he was glaring at me and basically killing me with his eyes. Now, his eyes show love and comfort and his actions spoke love and warmth… and a bit of excitement if his 'buddy' had anything to say about it.

I blush a dark shade of red as he forced his tongue into my mouth and persuades my tongue to dance with it. Today is just full of surprises as my tongue interacts and obliges with Naruto's tongue.

His 'buddy' keeps poking my entrance and the more it does, the more I tend to moan. The more I tend to moan, the more I get poked and so the circle continues. After about twenty or so pokes – seeing as I lost count after that – I felt Naruto moan and his tongue's forcefulness decrease. I opened my eyes and blink as he blinked back at me with his beautiful cerulean eyes.

"H-H-Hinata?" He stuttered with a confused look and I couldn't help but giggle; he was so cute! However, the gears in my head turned as I realized that he didn't realize what he was doing moments before. I blushed again and I took in a deep breath.

"Y-Yeah?" I answered and he opened and shut his mouth multiple times before sighing and getting off me. I looked at him and waited patiently for him to get his mind in order. He kept looking at me and my body before blushing and looking away. I couldn't really talk though; I was practically doing the same.

"You didn't happen to…" I heard Naruto say and I blinked.

"What is it?" I asked dreamily. I saw him look at me and blush. I giggled at this; it was just hard not to when he was acting so shy and cute.

"Did we… you know?" he asked and I realized what he was trying to ask me.

"W-Well, I am a little… s-sore." I said and his blush darkened.

"I-I am too." He stuttered before growling and punching the ground under him. My heart sunk to the bottom of my stomach by his reaction; was I really that bad of a mate or something? Was I really so ugly that it would make him mad that he lost his, and not to mention my own, virginity to him?

I felt my anger rise to the point that I stood and walked in front of him. He raised an eyebrow but I ignored it.

"Is it that bad that you and I… that we…" Naruto growled and looked away. "Look at me you jerk!" I yelled and he looked up in rare surprise. I wanted to apologize and then get away from him but by doing that, I'll look like a coward. In our current situation, I can't give him that impression; not anymore.

"Why do you hate me? Why do you hate me this much?" I shrieked and he looked up at me. "Am I ugly? Am I annoying?" I asked in a more hush tone. His stare softened and I finally felt like I was going somewhere.

"Do you want to know something?" I asked him but I didn't let him answer me since I knew his answer would've been a big, fat 'no'. "I l-lo… I really like you. More than anyone else in the village and…" I stopped to take in a deep breath before my tears and emotions consumed me. "And It really hurts that you hate me because of something I had no control over." His eye widened but I really didn't feel like putting up with his anger or crude remarks. I walked away and sat down as far away as I could. I hugged my knees and cried into them, ignoring the world around me.

I can only hope that I gave Naruto something to think about.

**[*.*.Naruto.*.*]**

She… she really likes me? I look at her as she cries into her knees and as much as I'd like to glare at her, I can't. When she told me she liked me, looked into my eyes as she told me that, I could tell she meant it.

But a Hyūga? This shy girl from the same clan that basically killed my mother and sister, likes me? Irony is a bitch but not much more of a bitch than karma.

I look at her shivering form and sigh; I feel like this is somehow my fault.

"Well that's 'cuz it is." I turn my head sharply to my right and see a small little girl sitting next to me while giggling and cutely playing with her small feet. She wore a typical white kimono that small children of the richest clan, namely the Hyūga clan, wear. She had short indigo hair and the brightest lavender eyes I've ever seen. They actually reminded me of Hinata's but they were filled with happiness and innocence only found in children. There was no sadness or low self-confidence I found in Hinata's eyes.

"What?" I asked angrily before gasping at seeing her look up at me with a happy smile. That smile. It reminded me of my childhood crush. No, not the one with Sakura; it was actually way before her. My first childhood crush. Sadly enough, I never did remember her name.

"You; you're that girl from the park eleven years ago." The girl nodded and then looked at Hinata with a frown.

"What's wrong with her?" She asked me and I shook my head.

"You don't want to know." She nodded her head before looking at me.

"What happened to you eleven years ago?" She asked me and my mood took a turn for the worst.

"I… my family died." I answered and she tilted her head.

"But I thought your daddy is still alive." She said and I nodded.

"He is but… he changed after the death of my sister and my mother." She hummed in understanding and I could only nod.

"I'm sorry." She said and I looked at her.

"Why?" I asked.

"I think it's my fault that your mommy and sister died." She answered and I gaped at her.

"But… but my dad told me that it was a Hyūga's fault that they died. Sure you're a Hyūga but it was Hinata specifically." I said while pointing at Hinata and she smiled with a knowing smile.

"Who do you think I am?" She said and my eyes widened. I looked at the little girl, then at Hinata. So… so my childhood crush was… was on Hinata? The same girl that…

"No… No that can't be true." I stuttered but she only kept smiling.

My world just got that much more confusing… not like it wasn't already chaotic enough…

**

* * *

**

**What a cliffhanger huh? Just me being evil again ^^...**

**Sorry, but that's all I got for this chapter... Next chapter, there'll be a flashback to Naruto's childhood, explaining his childhood crush with the now revealed Hinata... Also, a whole bunch of mushy, confrontational stuff...**

**By the way, I'm gunna stick to 3rd person form here on out... With all my stories... I'm not the 1st person kind of author... It just wasn't meant to be... Sorry..**

**On another note, if you would be so kind as to read some of my others stories and review whenever you have the time, i'd really like that...**

**Reviews always encourage me to continue, please have that in mind...**

**Oh, has anyone else seen Nartuo shippuden 166?**

**I love that episode! It was a Naruhina episode for all the Naruhina fans! I might be spazing out right now but I don't care... It was an awesome episode... Hinata was so cute as a little girl... She looked better than how they showed her before tho I just wished they would keep the same looking people, not change their appearance... **

**Well... never mind...**

**Till next time!**

**Next chapter: The painful past and the Devious Four...**

******Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**  



	3. The painful past

**Welcome one and all to a new chapter of Naruto: A Different Path...**

**I'm sorry it took me so long but life is troublesome...**

**This chapter might be an enigma to some... It'll make some of you go 'FINALLY' and make others go 'HUH? WHAT?'...**

**Sorry for that but lately, my mind's been really out of the box...**

**Still, I hope you enjoy it and if I made a mistake or you think I should change something, let me know and I'll change it as soon as I can...**

**Enjoy!**

_**"Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward."**_  
**- Author Unknown**

******Chapter 3: The painful past and the Devious Four...**

**I don't own anything... just the plot of this story and my other ones...  
P.s: unanswered questions will be answered at a later time, i promise,,,**

* * *

Naruto stared at the little girl next to him with disbelief as he faintly heard the patter of rain hitting the ground.

"So your name is Hinata, as well?" Naruto asked and the little girl nodded.

"Hinata Hyūga, five years old." Kid Hinata said, holding up five fingers to emphasize her point. Naruto shook his head.

"I must be going insane. Why are you even here? HOW are you here?" Naruto barked and Kid Hinata giggled.

"I am a figment of your imagination." She answered and Naruto raised an eyebrow. He was about to ask her another question but she spoke first. "Do you remember what happened that day." She asked while hugging her knees and staring into the still crying form that was older Hinata.

"Somewhat." Naruto answered, confused by the suddenness of the question.

"I remember it like it happened yesterday."

_Naruto walked up to the swings that were at the far end of a playground in Konoha. He was smiling happily, unaware of someone sitting on one of the two swings. _

_Oblivious of this second person, Naruto sat on the swing and began to thrust his legs forward and then backward in a continuous fashion. Naruto soon became parallel to the ground but never fell off the seat._

_At the swing's peak, Naruto jumped off and landed on his hands and knees. _

"_Whoo, I need to be careful." Naruto said to himself._

"_A-Ano, hello." Naruto turned around, surprised to find someone else at the swings. He blushed at his own ignorance and because the other person was a pretty girl around his age_

"_Hey, what's your name?" Naruto asked and the girl blushed._

"_H-Hinata." She said and Naruto smiled._

"_My name is Naruto." He answered and pointed a thumb to himself. "Remember that name because I'll become the next Hokage." Hinata giggled and Naruto chuckled with her._

"_I like your name." Naruto said, making Hinata's blush darken. _

"_T-Thank you." Hinata replied shyly._

"_How long have you been here?" Naruto asked and Hinata looked around. _

"_I think, five minutes." She answered and Naruto smirked._

"_Me too. Were you born here?" Naruto asked._

"_Yes, w-were you b-born here as well?" She asked and Naruto rubbed the back of his head nervously._

"_Well, not really." Hinata tilted her head. "I was actually born in Uzushiogakure, that's where my mom's from. I was brought here when I was still a baby." Naruto answered as he took a seat in the empty swing._

"_But my daddy is the Hokage so it's ok." Naruto added and Hinata giggled. "Do you wanna swing together?" Naruto asked and Hinata giggled and nodded._

"_D-Do you wanna see who c-can go higher?" Hinata asked. "You'll probably win, I-I can't do it right." Hinata added and Naruto frowned before smirking._

"_I'm sure you can do it, Hinata-chan." Naruto said, hoping to boost Hinata's confidence in herself. Looking up at him with wide eyes, Hinata smiled happily and nodded. "Ready GO!" Naruto swung his legs forward and then backward after coming down again and repeated this process._

_Hinata was trying her best to swing herself but Naruto noticed the technique she was using was wrong. He stopped himself and jumped off the swing, moving in front of Hinata. Hinata looked down, hoping that Naruto wouldn't be too mad at her failure._

"_Come on Hinata-chan, Just move your legs forward until you are as high as you're going to get and then swing them back when you feel your body moving back. Got it?" Naruto instructed her and when she looked up, she saw that he was smiling. He wasn't angry in the least. She nodded her head dumbly._

"_Ok, let's do this again." Naruto sat on his swing and started to swing. Hinata watched him for a while before mimicking his movements._

"_L-Like this?" She asked and Naruto laughed._

"_You got it!" Naruto shouted happily, laughing with Hinata as they both ventured higher with their swings._

_From that day on, Naruto and Hinata always met up at the playground every day. They played on every square inch of the playground; from the swings to the sand box, from the slide to the teeter totter._

_Several days later, Naruto sat down in the sand box with Hinata, building odd shapes in different sizes with the sand._

"_I like you Hinata-chan." Naruto blurted out and Hinata blushed._

"_I like you too, Naruto-kun." Hinata confessed and Naruto chuckled. _

"_Want to be boyfriend and girlfriend?" Naruto asked and Hinata's blush darkened. _

"_B-Boyfriend and g-g-girlfriend? You and… m-me?" Hinata asked and Naruto nodded. "Why would you choose me? I'm a loser." Hinata said with a crestfallen look. Naruto got up and frowned._

"_No you're not! Whoever told you that is a loser!" Naruto declared loudly, making Hinata gasp and look up. "You're a lot of fun and you can do anything you want when you put your mind to it." Naruto continued. He put his hands behind his back and lazily kicked the sand around him while staring at the floor._

"_It doesn't hurt that you're cute." Naruto said and Hinata smiled._

"_I-I am?" Naruto nodded and was glomped by Hinata._

"_Thank you, Naruto-kun." She said and Naruto chuckled. _

"_You're welcome, Hinata-chan. I promise I'll protect you from now on and if someone calls you a loser again, I'll kick their butt and call THEM a loser." Hinata giggled as she snuggled against Naruto's chest._

"That's right; I did ask her out already." Naruto said to himself.

"Yup, you really made me happy that day." Kid Hinata said and Naruto looked at her.

"But we were five. I had no idea what I was saying back then. Even if I did, nothing a kid says at that age should be taken seriously." Naruto said. Kid Hinata looked crestfallen as she stared up at him.

"You sounded serious to me, especially when you promised me that you'd protect me and kick the butt of anyone who called me a loser." Kid Hinata said. "How many times did you call me a loser over the last eleven years?" Naruto looked away, ashamed of himself. He was many things, a lot of them include adjectives similar to 'jerk' and 'killjoy', but he never was one to break a promise. Yet here he was, talking to Kid Hinata and finding out that he broke his promise.

"I liked it better when I didn't know who you were." Naruto said and Kid Hinata giggled.

"Too bad. Like you told me to tell other, 'don't like it, get over it'." Naruto's eyes widened and then he smiled as he looked at Kid Hinata.

"I did tell you that didn't I?" Kid Hinata nodded. Naruto's smile was washed away with the feeling of guilt. His sapphire eyes shifted up and stared at Hinata. "She still remembers this, no doubt."

"Yup." Kid Hinata said. "That's why it hurts her even more. You promised to protect her and yet, you're the one who hurts her the most." Naruto hugged his knees as he processed this information.

"So this _is_ my fault."

Kid Hinata hummed to herself. "I wouldn't say that." Naruto looked at her.

"Really?" Kid Hinata sweat dropped.

"Maybe it is?" Naruto became deadpanned. "But you can still fix this."

"And how's that? Swoop down wearing tights and a cape, grab Hinata and fly into the sunset?" Naruto asked sarcastically.

"Not in so many words." Naruto sweat dropped.

"Still, even if I did promise to protect her, I don't think I'd be able to forgive her." Naruto said and Kid Hinata sighed.

"Does that really matter now? You two are separated from your team and you got bad guys somewhere nearby." Naruto nodded his head.

"I guess you're right." Naruto hesitantly stood and slowly walked over to Hinata who was shaking from the cold air. She was oblivious to Naruto behind her and Naruto couldn't help but feel sorry for putting Hinata in this predicament. Sighing, he reached into the pockets of his ripped and ragged pants, He found the mission scroll he was given by Kurenai before they were divided into teams and tossed it in front of Hinata. It was about two feet in front of Hinata who looked up in surprise.

Before her eyes, Naruto tossed a green fireball from his hands and set the scroll on fire.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata shouted in surprise.

"You're cold aren't you?" Naruto asked in a soft tone, shocking Hinata. His tone made him sound as if he actually cared. She wiped her remaining tears and hugged her knees.

"Yeah, I-I guess." Naruto sat a few feet away from her but still close to the fire. He kept looking at Hinata, still a little skeptical that the girl in front of her was his childhood crush but now, he could see the resemblance. Hinata, for her part, refrained from blushing or fidgeting even as she knew she was being observed by her crush. Her eyes looked up and connected with his and she couldn't stop the blush from taking over her face.

"W-What is it?" Hinata asked after her curiosity got the better of her. Naruto blinked but his eyes never left her.

"I…" He hesitated before continuing. "You know, don't you?" Hinata raised an eyebrow. "You remember what happened all those years ago." He stated and Hinata looked away.

"What're you talking about? D-Did you hit your head?" Hinata asked, somewhat coldly. Naruto flinched, never hearing her act so cold.

"Eleven years ago, when I made that promise." This time Hinata cringed. She slumped her shoulders but held her knees closer to her chest. "The promise, when I asked you to be my girlfriend, I remember it all now and I know you never forgot it." Hinata stared blankly into the green fire as it started to adopt a more orange color.

"W-Why are you bringing this up? I-Isn't bad enough that you b-basically told me you h-hate me? Now you're trying t-to remind me of the promise j-just to tell me that you made a mistake by making it?" Hinata asked and Naruto could see the pain in her eyes.

"No." Hinata looked at him and narrowed her eyes a little.

"Then what? Don't you t-think I suffered e-enough?" She asked as her tears reappeared in her eyes. Naruto felt his heart break in two and his world crash around him. It was that same sad look. The look she had so many years ago. It was this look when he told of his mom and unborn sister's death. After that day, he had never seen her again. He guessed he knew why now.

Twenty four hours ago, Naruto would've smirk at seeing this expression on her face. Seeing it now with the revelation he had, he couldn't help but feel bad. Worse than bad, he felt like shit.

"I suppose you have." Naruto began. "But I'm not reminding you because I want to hurt you more, but just to…" He paused as he struggled to continue.

"To what?" Hinata asked, not sure what he wanted to say.

"It's hard for me to say this so give me a second." Hinata nodded and Naruto collected himself as he took in a deep breath.

"I'm sorry." Hinata became unresponsive as she blinked. She stared at Naruto with an incredulous expression.

"Wh… W-What?" She stuttered out. Sighing, Naruto repeated his words.

"I'm sorry… you better have heard me that time because I'm not repeating myself again." Naruto told her.

"Why?" Hinata asked and Naruto looked away, ashamed.

"I didn't keep my promise and worse of all, I was hurting you; me of all people." Naruto informed her.

"Why would you tell me this? At a time like this?" Hinata asked. She was touched by his apology though she was still suspicious of him.

"Because I was wrong. I let my mom's and sister's death bet the better of me and I shouldn't of let it." He looked up at her. "I still think it's your fault but I shouldn't have let that get in the way of the mission." Hinata saw Naruto in a new light.

"Can I tell you something?" Hinata squeaked out after a few moments of silence.

"Go for it." He urged her on.

"Do you… know why your mother and sister died?" Naruto raised an eyebrow and gave her a look that advised her not to talk about a touchy subject. "I mean really, the real reason." She asked and Naruto shook his head.

"I was never told." Naruto answered. Hinata sighed and moved closer to Naruto. Naruto also moved closer until they were sitting right next to each other.

"It started the day before your mom and sister were killed." Hinata recalled.

"_Come on Hinata-chan!" Naruto whined and Hinata kept her hands together and to her chest._

"_I-I don't know Naruto-kun. I-Is it safe?" Hinata asked. Naruto and Hinata stood in front of a cave deep in the forest inside Konoha._

"_Who cares? It looks like it'll be a lot of fun." Naruto put his arm around Hinata. "And besides, I promised I'd protect you, didn't I?" Hinata poked the tips of her index fingers together before nodding her head._

"_Then let's go!" Naruto cheered and Hinata giggled. They walked into the cave and with a flashlight in his hand; Naruto guided Hinata through the cave._

"_Cool." Naruto said, earning a hesitant nod from Hinata. He heard the echoes and smiled brightly "COOL!" The echo was louder and resonated more than the first one._

"_You having fun Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked and Hinata nodded slowly. "Hey what's that?" Naruto shouted as he dropped the flashlight and ran ahead._

"_Naruto-kun!" Hinata ran after Naruto but tripped over a rock and into the dark. "AH! NARUTO-KUN!" _

_Naruto heard Hinata's yell and then a harsh thud a few seconds later. It sounded like fleshing hitting something hard._

"_HINATA-CHAN!" Naruto grabbed the fallen flashlight and looked around for Hinata. He found her a few feet away from him, her downed body lay limp from a cliff. From his perspective, Naruto guessed that it was a little more than a six foot drop. He jumped down and landed next to Hinata._

"_Hinata-chan, Hinata-chan!" He put the flashlight in his mouth to free his hands. He used his left hand to hold her head up and his left to lightly slap her face. He received no response. He felt something cold touch his hands and a metallic smell in the air. He turned the flashlight to his hand holding Hinata's head up and saw blood. His hands shook and his mouth opened from the shock, dropping the flashlight to the floor._

_Tears formed in his eyes as he reached into his back pocket and threw an odd shaped kunai in a random direction. It embedded itself in between a crack in the wall and Minato appeared in a flash of yellow._

"_Naruto? Where are-"_

"_DADDY! HINATA-CHAN'S HURT!" Naruto shouted and Minato saw Hinata's limp form on top of Naruto's lap. The forgotten flashlight lay a few feet away with the light on Hinata's face. Minato saw the blood coming out of her head and his eyes widened. He grabbed both kids and stared at Naruto. _

"_We're going to talk about this later." He said before disappearing in a flash of yellow._

Naruto stared at Hinata disbelievingly.

"You're kidding? Why don't I remember this?" Naruto asked and Hinata shook her head.

"I don't really remember it. I just remember what father told me." Hinata said.

"Wait, what does this have to do with my mom's and sister's death?" Naruto asked.

"Because… it's what happened afterward." Hinata told him, continuing the flashback.

_Minato stood beside Hiashi as they watched Hinata lay in the hospital bed._

"_I'm sorry, Hiashi-sama." Minato apologized. "I'm sure Naruto didn't mean for this to happen." Hiashi's eyes never left Hinata's unconscious form._

"_How are you feeling?" Minato asked and Hiashi's brow furrowed._

"_How am I feeling?" Hiashi now faced Minato with unadulterated fury. "My oldest daughter is in a coma for who knows how long and you want to know how I'm feeling?" Hiashi grew red faced and his fist tightened at his side._

"_I feel angry. This should not have happened to my daughter and it's all your snot-nosed kid's fault!" Hiashi shouted. _

"_Whoa, I understand you're mad Hiashi but you better remember you place." Minato said and Hiashi shook his head._

"_I want retribution." Hiashi said and Minato was taken aback. _

"_What?" Minato asked and Hiashi nodded._

"_You heard me."_

"_I'm sorry Hiashi but there will be no retribution. I'm sincerely sorry but there's no reason for me to do such a thing." Hiashi glared at Minato before looking back at Hinata._

"_Yeah, you will be sorry… soon enough." Hiashi stated ominously. Minato now stared angrily at Hiashi._

"_Is that a threat?" Hiashi looked at Minato from the corner of his eye. Without uttering a word, he walked away, leaving Minato standing there to think over Hiashi's words._

Naruto stared into the green and orange fire as he took in Hinata's words.

"So your father threatened mine." Naruto said and Hinata shamefully nodded. He looked up at her and saw that she was truly ashamed of her father's actions.

"I'm starting to remember now. I blocked it out from my memories because it was so horrifying. I remember it clearly now." Naruto said more to himself than to Hinata. Hinata nodded though, remembering what he father told her when she asked a few years later.

"That night, it would forever be the worse night of my life."

_Naruto spit into his sink and removed the excess toothpaste from his mouth. He then wiped it with a towel and headed for his room. Crossing the hallway, Naruto bumped into his mother, Kushina Uzumaki._

"_Night mommy!" Naruto said as he hugged Kushina's leg. Kushina crouched down and placed a hand on Naruto's blond hair._

"_Goodnight Naruto-kun." She kissed his forehead and stood. "Now go to bed." He nodded his head and ran into his room and dove into his bed. He was about to slip under the covers when he heard his window open. He yelled when he saw a man wearing all black enter his room._

_Just as she was about to step into her room, Kushina heard Naruto's yell. She hurriedly ran down the hall and burst into Naruto's room to see a man standing over her son with a kunai pressed to his throat. She acted quickly as she appeared over the man and kicked him back, away from Naruto._

"_Are you ok, Naruto-kun? Did he hurt you?" Kushina asked Naruto and Naruto shook his head as his whole body shivered. She turned to face the attacker with new found rage. "Go get daddy, Naruto-kun." She said and Naruto hesitated._

"_GO!" Kushina yelled and Naruto flinched. He nodded his head and ran out of the room and down the hall to his parents' room. He shuffled through the many drawers until he found the three pronged kunai. He thrust it down and his father appeared._

"_Naruto? What have I told you about playing with the kunai?" Minato scolded but noticed the tears in his son's eyes._

"_Mommy's in trouble!" Naruto cried out and Minato's eye widened before he heard a thud in another room. He ran out of the room and into Naruto's room to see Kushina laying face down on Naruto's bed. Minato ran to her side and flipped her over. Her eyes were closed and her face was pale._

"_Kushina-chan, wake up." Minato said quietly, half expecting her to open her eyes and say 'got ya!'. Like the time they both were doing a mission, surrounded by enemy shinobi and got separated. He found her on the floor the same way he found her now and after shedding a few tears, she jumped up and said;_

'_Do you really think those chumps could take down the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero?'_

_Unfortunately, he knew that this was not going to be one of those times._

"_Daddy," Minato looked up with tears at his son. "What's wrong with mommy?" Naruto asked and Minato looked back at his wife._

"_She's just resting, Naruto." Minato sobbed as he brought his head down to Kushina's. Naruto walked closer and was surprised when his father reached out and grabbed his shoulder._

"_We're going to the hospital." Minato said as he pulled his son into a hug and transported his wife and kid to the hospital via Hiraishin. _

Naruto let out a few silent tears.

"I guess in a way dad was right, she was resting. She still is today." Naruto said with a mirthless smile. "You know what the worst part is?" Hinata shook her head as she had her own tears streaming down her cheeks.

"She was carrying my little sister… dad and me didn't even know until it was too late to save her." Hinata gasped as she covered her mouth with her right hand.

"D-Did you ever find out who killed her?" Hinata asked.

"No, there were no leads and the man who killed her was never found." Naruto said and he looked at Hinata. "That's why I blame the Hyūga clan for her death, that's why I used to think it was all your fault." Naruto stated before looking at the fire.

"But now I see that it was my fault. If I hadn't tried to convince you to go in the cave, none of this would've happened." Naruto realized, hating himself. He was surprised when Hinata wrapped him in a hug and rested her head on his.

"I'm sorry this happened." Hinata said and Naruto looked at her skeptically.

"You're hugging me? After everything that's happened, after everything I said?" Naruto asked and Hinata smiled.

"Yes I am." Hinata answered and Naruto shook his head.

"All you Hyūgas are weird." Naruto said and Hinata playfully glared at him. The fire started to die down, shedding less and less light by the minute.

"I'm still sorry." Naruto said and Hinata smiled with her eyes closed.

"It's ok." She said. They remained like they were, quiet and still as the light from the fire dimmed considerably.

Thoughts raced through Naruto's mind, memories of the past, the joy he felt when he was around Hinata and the feeling she put in his heart. He was still confused on a couple of things but he was sure of one thing. After much internal debating, Naruto stared at Hinata and spoke.

"If it's ok with you…" Naruto started, getting Hinata's attention. He stared deeply into Hinata's eyes and suddenly remembered why he liked her in the first place. She still had that innocent and kind spark in her eyes that always intrigued him. "I… never mind." He chickened out at the last minute and Hinata shook her head

"Tell me." She urged him.

"I know I don't deserve it but… can you give me another chance?" Naruto asked, catching Hinata off guard.

"W-What?" Naruto looked away from her eyes.

"I know after everything that's happened, I shouldn't be asking you for another chance but I now remember how happy I was when we were little." Naruto faced Hinata with new found determination.

"It's probably not the same now that we're older but..." He paused as he held Hinata's left cheek with his right hand. "I want to find out." New tears broke out of their imprisonment as Hinata thought it over.

"D-Do you mean it?" She asked and Naruto nodded his head. "Are you sure? T-This isn't going to go well if y-your father and mine f-find out." Naruto nodded his head.

"I know but still, I'm tired of being alone." Naruto said. "Besides that, something in me is telling me to go after you." Hinata smiled.

"So?" Naruto asked. Hinata's response was to kiss Naruto just as the fire died out. Now in the dark, Hinata pushed Naruto onto his back and continued to kiss him. Naruto let Hinata take control as he placed his hands on her hips and kissed back. He felt his heart beat quickened as Hinata put her hands on his chest.

The ground shook under them and Hinata gasped.

"What was that?" She asked fearful.

"Maybe we just made love… again." Hinata raised an eyebrow at Naruto and he shrugged his shoulders.

"That's not funny." Hinata stated as she got off Naruto. They both stood and Naruto looked outside the cave.

"I can't see anything but I can tell it's still raining." He looked at Hinata. "Wait here." He told her.

"I want to come with you." Hinata said and Naruto shook his head after looking at her from head to toe.

"If you haven't noticed, you're still basically naked." Hinata 'eep'ed as she tried to sketch out the half white-T she was wearing. "That doesn't do much to cover you but thanks for the peek." Hinata lightly glared at Naruto and he smirked. "Sorry." The ground shook again but this time, it was from an explosion.

Naruto kissed Hinata and began to walk out of the cave. He stopped right before he left and turned to face Hinata.

"If I'm not back soon, expect the worst." Naruto said and disappeared. Hinata sat down and smiled to herself. Then she remembered Naruto's last words and couldn't help but worry for him.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Naruto appeared with his raggedy black sweatpants in a clearing twenty five feet away from the cave he was just in.

"It sounded like the explosion came from here." He said to himself as he looked around.

"You are cooorrect!" Naruto looked up to see a green, short haired girl fall from the sky. He jumped back when she almost stabbed him with a kunai and righted himself.

"So it was an ambush, huh?" Naruto smirked as he finally found someone to release his eleven years of pent up anger on. "So what's your name? I'd like to know the name of the person I'm about to kill." The girl giggled as she flipped her hair back. She had a short black tank top over a chain mesh shirt and black shorts. Her blue eyes sparked with mischief as she stared at Naruto.

"My name is Kimiko. What's your name, cutie?" She asked and Naruto smirked.

"Taken." Kimiko's smile was wiped clean off.

"Bummer; at least this makes you easier to kill." Kimiko said as she ran towards Naruto. Through the mental link to his red bracelet, Naruto summoned his metallic red fox ears, tail, claws, boots, and chest plate. Kimiko was surprised by this but recovered just before Naruto was able to pierce her with his claw.

"You're pretty fast." Naruto commented and Kimiko smirked.

"Thanks, you're pretty dangerous." Naruto chuckled as he flashed through hand signs.

"I try to be. **Demon Art: Fox Fire!**" Green fire surrounded Naruto's claws. He crouched down and had his claws on both sides of his face. "This is my fighting style; Kitsune's Claw: Blazing Fang." Naruto ran at Kimiko and thrust a blazing claw forward. Kimiko jumped back just before the blazing claw touched her. Naruto smirked as he turned and used his mechanical tail to grip Kimiko's waist. She was surprised by this move but before she could escape, Naruto faced her and brought his claws down on her torso.

Because of the chain mesh shirt she wore, she wasn't ripped in two though she was badly injured.

Naruto let her go and she fell to her knees. He jumped back and crouched down with his claws on both sides of his face.

"Ready to give up?" He asked arrogantly before smelling a new scent in the air. He vanished just as a new man smashed his fist into the ground where Naruto once was. Naruto growled as he took in the new man's appearance.

He wore a dark brown sleeveless shirt and black hakama pants. His hair was short but spiky black hair and his body was athletically built. He was about six feet tall; about the size of an average man. He looked familiar but Naruto couldn't be sure where he'd seen him before.

The man turned his head and his cold grey eyes looked at Kimiko.

"Get up, Kimiko." Kimiko grunted as she struggled to stand. The man then turned his eyes to Naruto and Naruto froze up.

His cold, murderous grey eyes that showed no mercy and bloodlust stared into Naruto's eyes; as if he was able to see his very soul. Naruto now remembered where he'd seen those eyes and the man before.

Before Naruto could release his anger, his world became dark and he fell to the unforgiving ground.

"It's about time Azul." The black haired man said. Standing behind Naruto, a bulky man, easily seven feet tall, with blue hair and dark blue eyes dusted off his navy blue shirt and hakama pants. He then grabbed Naruto's unconscious form by his neck and put him on his shoulder. By now, Naruto's animalistic and metallic armor receded back into his bracelet.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're getting weaker, Kimiko." Kimiko pouted and Azul laughed.

"Enough." The black haired man said with conviction, silencing both his followers. "Azul, where's Riku?" Azul smirked.

"She's coming; she's just setting up the genjutsu to lose those Konoha punks we found down the trail." The black haired man nodded his head and then looked at Naruto's face.

"This brat has caused me a lot of trouble." The man said and Azul shook his head.

"We know, you never shut up about it." The black haired man glared at Azul but aside from that, he didn't do anything.

Hinata, who was near enough to hear them but far enough that she would not be seen, gasped. She wanted to jump in and save Naruto but she knew she didn't stand a chance against the three of them and that would only make the situation much worse for the both of them. Her best hope was to find the others and get their help.

Hinata turned on her heels and activated her Byakugan.

"Seems like we have a sneaky panther on our hands." The black haired man said and Azul chuckled.

"Do you want me to go after her?" He offered but the man shook his head.

"Riku will deal with her. For now, let's take the brat back to base." Azul and Kimiko nodded as they followed their leader.

Hinata found a girl pumping out a large amount of chakra around the area where she found her team and comrades just one hundred meters away from the cave she came from. They were lying on the ground except for Kurenai, Kakashi and Sasuke who were tied down to a tree by chakra absorbing robe. Hinata hid behind a bush as she watched a girl with long, black hair stand over her two sensei and Sasuke.

Putting chakra to the soles of her feet, Hinata burst through the clearing and appeared behind the black haired woman. The woman was surprised by Hinata's sudden appeared and wasn't fast enough to dodge or block Hinata's palm thrust. The woman was blasted back and disappeared into some bushes.

Taking a kunai from her sensei's pouch, Hinata cut through the ropes and freed her comrades.

"Hinata, where were you and why are you half naked?" Kurenai asked and Sasuke and Kaksahi blushed and turned away before Kakashi went to look for the black haired girl that attacked them. Hinata blushed as well.

"I uh…" Kurenai shook her head.

"I have an extra pair of clothes in my bag; you can borrow it for now." Hinata nodded as she grabbed Kurenai's bag and put on Kurenai's trademark look.

"Where's Naruto?" Sasuke asked and Hinata took in a deep breath.

"She's gone." Kakashi said after returning from his search.

"We should probably wake the others now and then you can tell us where you and Naruto have been." Hinata nodded at Kurenai's suggestion and the four woke up their comrades.

After being woken up, Hinata told them what happened… except for the possible sex and what happened in the cave.

"Well, looks like we found the missing-nins." Kakashi joked but Hinata didn't find it amusing.

"This isn't the time to joke around. Naruto-kun has been taken and who knows what they're going to do with him?" Hinata scolded and Kakashi sweat dropped.

"What's got you all riled up? I mean we know you like him and all but…" Kiba asked and Hinata blushed with a pout.

"They took a comrade, why shouldn't we be 'riled up'?" Hinata asked and Kiba looked away.

"They'll probably be expecting us now that they know Hinata saved us." Kurenai said. "We might outnumber them but who knows just how skilled they are. I know it's our mission to capture them but now we're at a disadvantage-"

"Still, we can't just leave Naruto out there with them." Sakura interrupted.

"Even if he is a dobe, he's still our comrade." Sasuke added and stood. "I for one don't care who we're up against; I'm going to go save him."

"Me too." Sakura said as she stood next to Sasuke.

"I'm coming too." Hinata said and Sasuke nodded his head towards her.

"I can't let Hinata go by herself and I don't trust the Uchiha so I'll go too." Kiba said, earning a glare from Sasuke and Sakura.

"I have never left a comrade behind and I refuse to start now." Shino stated. Kakashi and Kurenai sweat dropped.

"As valiant as that little speech was, we were never going to leave Naruto." Kakashi stated and everyone face faulted into the ground.

"I was going to suggest we come up with a plan before I was rudely interrupted." Kurenai said and Sakura chuckled sheepishly.

"Sorry."

"Come on, we're wasting time. Now here's what we're going to do…" Kakashi started to explain the plan to his comrades. Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata were anxious to get this plan into action.

**

* * *

**

**I feel like I messed the story up now... Not sure why... What do you think?**

**AAAAAAAAnyway, hope everyone's happy now that they know why/how Kushina and Naruto's unborn sister was killed...**

**Hopefully, I won't get flamed cuz of it...**

**I plan on updating Shinigami Chronicles [one of my other stories] before starting all over and updating another chapter of Naruto of the Immortal Clan... ACtually, I might update this story once more before going to Shinigami Chronicles or Immortal Clan... Not sure... Whichever I feel like writing I guess...**

**Next Chapter: ****Rescuing the Fox**...

******Till next time!**

******Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**


	4. Rescuing the Fox

**I just felt like updating this one again...**

**I had the idea for this chapter already on my mind and didn't want to lose it so here it is...**

**Anyone read Fairy tail? Its an awesome manga!**

**Its really an inspiration for me, just like naruto and Bleach are...**

**Anyways, a lot of plot twist and stuff in this chapter and... possibly... A CHARACTER DEATH!**

***GASP* no way!**

**Yups!**

**Let's find out who, shall we?**

_**"Blood is just red sweat."  
**_**Enson Inoue **

**Chapter 4: Rescuing the Fox...  
**

**[The next one will be 'A Fool with Dreams'... sorry for the mistake...]**

**I don't own Naruto... And no BETA-checked so... sorry ^^;**

* * *

Footsteps were heard echoing through the halls of the Hokage Tower as the Yondaime hurriedly made his way out of the tower.

Nowadays, the blond village leader had little to no patience but knew not to take his anger out on anyone who didn't deserve it. He kept his old attire but his blond hair was longer and wilder than it used to be.

Passing the administrators working in his office, Minato passed the barrier leading into the tower and walked into the street, ignoring the drooling young and older women.

Rubbing his sleep-deprived eyes, Minato maneuvered through Konoha until he entered his estate and into his room. He sat down on his bed, staring at nothing as he let his thoughts consume him. Minutes into it, Minato burst into tears. Even to this day, eleven years later, his late wife's death still affected him so much.

Oblivious to the world around him, Minato failed to notice soft padding coming from the hall. He wiped the tears from his eyes and he was surprised to see a man in all black running at him. He jumped back on the bed just as the man was about to strike him down with an open palm thrust.

Noticing the man's stance, Minato saw that it was the same one the Hyūga clan used.

When the attacker attacked again, Minato flipped over him and put his right hand on the attacker's shoulder as leverage and jumped out of the room. His attacker turned but before his very eyes, Minato disappeared in a flash of yellow.

The attacker's world became dark as he felt something pierce his body.

Minato let his attacker fall as he removed his kunai from the man's heart.

"Let's see who you are." Minato said out loud as he reached down to remove his attacker's mask. "GAH!"

Another attacker, much quicker than the last, caught Minato off guard and sent a chakra powered palm to his chest. Minato was sent back and his back hit the window, cracked and sent him outside.

He landed on his back and he felt his heart start to shut down. Before he blacked out, he saw silver eyes staring back at him.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Hinata rushed past many trees as she used her Byakugan to lead her comrades through the dense forest. Kiba followed close behind her, taking in the many scents along with Akamaru.

"We're close." Kiba stated and Hinata nodded her head.

"They set up some traps." Hinata added.

"So they were expecting us." Kakashi said and put a hand over his forehead protector. He pulled it up and the three tomoes in his left eyes spun. "Get ready!" He shouted just as Kurenai tripped over steel wire, causing an explosion to erupt and consume everyone.

Riku, a black haired woman with a long, black cloak appeared from the dark as she watched the explosion consume Konoha's shinobi. She had a smile as she watched the explosion die down and all that was left was the smoke in the air.

"I wouldn't be smiling if I were you." Riku tensed as cold metal was placed under her chin. Her brown eyes turned as she met red ones. Then the tree itself absorbed Riku as Kurenai appeard from the tree. Kurenai stared passively at Riku as her kunai became tense in her hand.

"You guys go ahead." Kurenai said as Kakashi, Hinata, Kiba, Sakura, Sasuke and Shino ran out of their hiding place and jetted past Kurenai and Riku… except Shino. "What are you waiting for?" Kurenai asked and Shino shook his head.

"I will not leave you alone, sensei." Kurenai stared at Shino before sighing.

"You need to start paying attention." Kurenai ducked just before her head was chopped off by a zanbato. She jumped away and landed next to Shino. She was surprised to see an average sized woman holding a zanbato that could rival Zabuza's zanbato.

It was as black as night outlined by a white coating. It looked like it could slice an oak tree in half easily.

"This is interesting; a genjutsu specialist with a zanbato." Shino stated. Student and teacher looked at each other before facing their new opponent.

"So, how did you escape that explosion?" Riku asked and Kurenai watched her warily.

"We never set it off." Riku grinded her teeth. "What you saw was a genjutsu. So much for a specialist." Kurenai taunted.

***.*.*.***

Hinata sped forward at incredible speeds as Kiba, Akamaru and Kakashi ran behind him.

"So there's an abandoned ruins a two hundred feet away from here?" Kiba asked and Hinata nodded her head. "Great."

Hinata smiled when she noticed a bulky man with blue hair standing on the ground with his arms crossed; he was expecting them.

"So, you've finally-" He blinked when Hinata, Kiba, Akamaru and Kakashi quickly sped past him. He turned and a vein was popping from his forehead.

"Where are you idiots going? You're my next opponents!" Azul yelled. Kakashi turned, eye smiled and waved.

"No we're not." Azul blinked again and was sent crashing through several trees before rolling to a stop. When he looked up, he saw Sakura smiling with her right fist forward and Sasuke with his arms crossed over his chest standing next to her. Sakura let out a sigh before pink armor surrounded her, including a metallic chest plate, boots, gloves and goggles. Sasuke smiled as dark blue armor covered him, together with metallic claws, boots, a chest plate, wings, a long, spiky tail and goggles.

"You always get me excited whenever you put your armor on, Sakura." Sakura winked at him.

"I see your father upgraded you to 'Dragon'. Very nice." Sakura commented.

"Enough!" They both turned to see Azul slowly make his way towards them. "Let's begin." He said with his canine teeth showing.

***.*.*.***

"There it is!" Hinata said pointing to the giant ruin in front of them. Kakashi and Kiba sweat dropped.

"How did we miss that?" They asked simultaneously.

"It was under a genjutsu." Kimiko said at the entrance of the ruin. Kakashi and Kiba looked at each other before laughing. Hinata only glared at Kimiko.

"Who has haha who has enough chakra to cover this whole ruin with a genjutsu?" Kiba asked amidst his laughter.

"Besides Naruto?" Kakashi added. Kimiko only smiled.

"Me and Riku do." She answered and Kiba and Kakashi stopped laughing, only to blink, look at each other and continue laughing. Kimiko pouted as she made quick hand signs and put her hands in front of her.

"**Ice Style:**" Kiba and Kakashi now completely stopped laughing as they stood. Kakashi's Sharingan eye followed her hang signs. "**Snow Tiger!**" A Tiger made of ice formed in front of Kimiko and ran towards Hinata, Kakashi, Kiba and Akamaru. It jumped and headed straight for Hinata.

"Remember the plan." Kakashi said before they jumped away from the Tiger's reach. When the tiger hit the ground, spikes of ice erupted and consumed the area around it.

Hinata ran up to Kimiko before jumping over her and running into the ruin. She was about to give chase to her but Kiba stopped her.

"You're not going anywhere! **Fang over Fang!**" Two speeding tendrils smashed into the front of the ruin, stopping Kimiko. Dust was kicked in the air and from it, Kiba and Akamaru, in the appearance of Kiba, stood in the way.

"Even if we believed you did have enough chakra to cover this entire ruin with your comrade, we won't let you go without a fight." Kakashi said as he stood on the other side of Kimiko. She smirked as her blue eyes shined.

***.*.*.***

The light sound of footsteps woke Naruto up as he slowly opened his eyes. His sapphire eyes looked up tiredly to see the black haired man. He blinked multiple times before his eyes widened, then narrowed.

"YOU BASTARD!" Naruto shouted as he tried to run at the Black haired man but was pulled back. He looked at his arms and legs to see glowing blue chains attached to them. He concentrated his chakra to his hands and legs but nothing happened.

"Wha-?"

"So you've noticed." Naruto glared at the man in front of him.

"Chakra absorbing chains." Naruto said and the man nodded. "Who the hell are you?" Naruto asked as he kept himself from yelling.

"I see you remember me, how sweet."

"Cut the crap!" Naruto yelled as he tried to break the chains.

"So you haven't gotten over it yet?" The man said and Naruto's blue eyes changed to a bloody red. The metallic bracelet began to release Naruto's armor until the chains began to shock Naruto.

"AH!" He yelled out in pain as his bracelet died down and returned to normal. The shocking stopped and blood started to rush out of Naruto's mouth. He spit it out and growled at the man, barring his bloody teeth.

"You bastard." Naruto said lowly and the man grinned.

"Can't you let it go, I only killed one person." The man said nonchalantly, pissing Naruto off even more.

"That was two you killed. MY MOTHER AND SISTER!" Naruto shouted and the man's grin became devious.

"It's not my fault, no one told the whore to get pregnant." Naruto's eye widened as his bracelet light up again. He was shocked again to the point that he almost lost consciousness.

"Why?" Naruto asked tiredly as he hung his head in fatigue. "Why did you kill her?" Naruto asked as he looked up and his red eyes stared into the man's grey ones.

"She wasn't my target… you were." Naruto's eye widened. "However, she got in the way and it didn't matter who was killed, as long as it was someone important to you." The man said and Naruto growled.

"But why? Why attack me? Why kill my mom?" Naruto asked and the man smirked. A new scent filled Naruto's nose but he couldn't put a face on the scent.

"Have you ever heard of the name Hideki?" The man asked and Naruto stared at him before realization dawned on him.

"You… You're that ambassador from Kumo that visited Konoha eleven years ago." Naruto said.

"Fool, I may look like him but I can assure you that I am not. My name is Akio; Hideki's brother." Naruto glared at him.

"Alright fine, you're brother is the ambassador, big whoop, what the hell do I care?" Naruto taunted him while trying to figure out how to get out of his chains.

"Was." Akio said, catching Naruto off guard. "He was the ambassador… until he failed his mission." Naruto raised his eyebrow.

"Poor guy." Naruto continued his taunting until Akio punched his stomach. He doubled over and spat up more blood.

"If you shut up, you'll understand why I'm trying to kill you in the first place." Akio shouted and Naruto glared with his left eye. "Now then.

"My brother's mission was simple; to kidnap the Hyūga heiress and return home before anyone noticed." Naruto growled as he tensed his muscles. "However, it's thanks to your little adventure that the mission was a failure." Naruto smirked a little at this. Seeing this, Akio kicked Naruto in the head, making him reel back and collide against the wall. Naruto shook his head and the new scent he smelled earlier became stronger and he now remembered who it belonged to.

"Still, I don't see why it my fault." Naruto argued.

"The little bitch was in a coma for a year, 365 days! Her father set up security to watch her at all times, making it next to impossible to kidnap her." By now, Akio's fists were shaking at his side. "When my brother told the Raikage…" Akio paused. He turned and punched Naruto in the face. More blood was spilled as Naruto fell to the ground.

"He was killed!" Akio shouted. Naruto groaned as he struggled to sit up. Akio kicked his stomach and Naruto let out a cry of pain. "So I ran away, planning my revenge. Planning to go to Konoha to kill you!" Naruto looked up at Akio and smirked before spitting blood. It managed to hit Akio's left cheek and after wiping it over, he grabbed Naruto's head and smashed it against the hard ground.

"I didn't do it alone, though, I had some help. Azul, Riku and Kimiko; all of them helped." Akio continued to explain while Naruto remained motionless. "Azul and Kimiko stood guard while Riku and I entered your home. I still remember the look on Kushina's face when Riku placed a genjutsu on her and kept her still. It might've been for only a second but it was long enough for me to end her pitiful life." Akio boasted and Naruto's body started to shake.

"Her blood on my hands made me feel so alive!" Akio said with his eyes shining. "If I wasn't satisfied with her death, I probably would've gone after you!" Akio walked up to Naruto and smirked at his shivering former, mistaking his shivering for shivers of fear.

"So what now?" Akio raised an eyebrow as Naruto sat up and propped himself against the wall. "You killed my mother eleven years ago; what the hell are you doing with your life now?" Naruto asked and Akio smirked.

"I made a new team with Azul, Riku and Kimiko and we've been laying low, taking odd jobs while on the run, making a quick buck." Akio paused as eh took a step back from Naruto. "That is, until you and your pitiful village dealt with the Akatsuki. Ever since, we've been recruiting others to join our group." Naruto eyed Akio with so much hatred.

"Alas, it was not meant to be." Akio sighed and Naruto sweat dropped.

'_He's so dramatic.'_ Naruto thought.

"So instead, I struck a deal with an influential person." Akio said with slight emphasis on influential. "If I get rid of you eight now, and deal with some more people, I've been promised a home… in Konoha." Naruto's eyes widened.

"What?" Akio chuckled.

"That's right; Konoha will be my new home." Naruto growled.

"I doubt it! Even if we fall here, we have more people waiting back home to deal with you scums." Then something clicked in Naruto's mind. "Who's this influential person you're talking about?" Naruto asked and Akio's smirk widened.

"Since I'm going to kill you anyway, it won't hurt to tell you." Akio bent down and whispered the name in Naruto's ear. Naruto went wide eyed before growling and creasing his brow.

"THAT ASSHOLE!" Naruto shouted in anger. He could feel his tenant's chakra surround him and the bracelet shine brightly. "AH!" Naruto shouted once more as the chains shocked him. He fell to his hands and knees as the chains continued to shock him at inhumane levels. He growled and barred his teeth as he refused to give up.

Alio took out a katana and brought it over his head.

"This is goodbye." He stopped when he sensed someone running up to him.

"I won't let you touch him!" Hinata yelled as she let her bracelet cover her with indigo metallic panther claws, chest plate, ears, tail, boots, goggles and mask. With her claws, she thrust it forward but ultimately missed when Akio jumped away. He moved away from Naruto and Hinata as Hinata tended to Naruto.

"Are you ok, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked and Naruto looked up.

"Stand… back… Hinata-chan." Naruto strained to speak as electricity sparked around his body. Hinata took a few steps back as Naruto's eyes disappeared and all that remained with his white sclera. It started to shine as the Kyūbi chakra suddenly became fire. He stood up and quickly jumped in the air. The chains struggled to keep him down but the wall that was connected to the chains broke and Naruto was free to move around.

He looked down at his arms and legs before smiling. His bracelet gave him his claws, chest plate, boots, two tails and a knight-looking helmet with a clear visor. The chains broke off him and the fire that enveloped him disappeared as well.

"You killed my mother." Naruto took a step forward, ignoring the sparks of electricity that continued to travel through him. "Indirectly killed my sister." Naruto added as Akio steadied himself. Hinata watched Naruto walk next to her and crouch down to his fighting stance.

"And now you want to take away my home? That's unacceptable. I…" He paused as he looked at Hinata. "We… We will stop you." Naruto said and Hinata nodded. Akio looked at them before he started to laugh.

"We'll just see about that." Akio said. "There's a reason why my comrades and I are S-ranked missing-nin." Akio added. Naruto chuckled.

"There's a reason why my _friends_ and I were called to deal with you bastards. Because we can defeat you!"

***.*.*.***

"Come out!" Riku shouted as Kurenai hid behind a tree and Shino inside a bush, panting.

'_What the hell is this woman? She has so much chakra that she could probably rival Naruto.'_ Kurenai blinked at her thought. _'Maybe not as much but still…'_

Kurenai jumped out of her hiding place and ran at Riku. Shino did as well but he decided to back Kurenai up.

"Finally!" Riku ran at her with her black zanbato ready to slice Kurenai. She swung in a horizontal arc but Kurenai dodged at the last minute. She spun and knocked the feet under Riku, kicked her zanbato away and climbed over her.

"Shino, you remember that plan I gave you right before the mission?" Shino didn't answer. Riku kicked her off and got on Kurenai. "The one for Naruto." After a moment's hesitation, Shino nodded. Smiling, Kurenai seemed to melt into the tree. Riku blinked before frowning.

"Tch, idiot. I'm a genjutsu specialist as well. KAI!" She made a hand sign and released the genjutsu. Nothing happened but Riku was sure that she was free now. She looked around but saw no one in sight. She went to retrieve her sword but when she touched it, it felt… off. It wasn't her sword.

Before she could discard it, it dispersed into a crowd of bugs and surrounded her. She smirked.

"Is this all you have." She said as she swatted the bugs away with ease before jumping up and out of the swarm. She glowered when she saw Kurenai run up to her with her white cheetah-like armor on. She jumped in the air and was about to stamp her boots on Riku's face but Riku put her hands up in defense.

Kurenai kicked her multiple times before jumping back and running up tro Riku again. Riku smirked as she punched Kurenai in the face. She gasped when Kurenai turned into sakura petals. They surrounded Riku and she growled. Riku cursed under her breath when she noticed that her chakra reserves became scarce and her legs began to quiver. She knew if she wanted to survive this, she'd have to end it quick.

Kurenai and Shino were both thinking along the same lines as they panted.

"My insects are at their limit, her chakra reserves are at best half of Naruto's and that is still too much." Shino said and Kuernai smiled.

"Its ok, she's tired as well. We just need to fend her off for another minute or two." Kurenai said and Shino nodded his head.

"I have a technique I think that'll finish her off. Can you keep her occupied?" Shino asked as he bug armor appeared from his bracelet and Kurenai nodded.

Riku swtted away the sakura petals that refused to disappeared until she saw Kurenai slowly making her way towards her before her image became hazy and she became one with the sakura petals.

All the petals suddenly stopped in midair before turning around quickly like saw blades and rushing towards Riku. Riku managed to dodge most of the blades but she wasn't able to avoid all of them. As she continued to avoid them, she noticed that while they did hurt, something was off. Her eyes widened as she made another hand sign.

"KAI!" All the petals disappeared and Kurenai appeared in midflight and kicked Riku in the face. "A double layered genjutsu." She said before she stood but tripped when Shino's destruction bugs enveloped her entire foot.

"**Hidden Jutsu: Beetle Sphere.**" Shino's voice echoed as Riku yelled out in pain as the bugs sucked out her remaining chakra. She fell to her knees before falling completely to the ground, unconscious.

Kurenai sighed with a smile as Shino fell to one knee and panted, his bug armor receding into his bracelet.

"Let's rest for now; we deserve it." Kurenai said as she sat down next to Riku's unconscious form. Shino nodded as he tried to catch his second wind.

***.*.*.***

Sakura back flipped away from Azul just as he brought his fist onto the ground, causing it to throw debris in the air. From her gloves, Sakura shot off slime that covered Azul and made him slip and fall. He got made and made some hand signs.

"**Water Style: Raging Waves!**" He sucked in a ton of air before spitting out water, washing away the slime.

Sakura landed next to Sasuke who had a few scratches on him like Sakura and Azul.

"He's worse than the dobe when we don't let him eat ramen." Sasuke commented and Sakura laughed.

"Yeah, he's a lot worse." She looked at him and saw that he was smiling. "You excited?" She asked and Sasuke nodded his head.

"Extremely." He answered And Sakura giggled. She looked back at Azul and frowned.

"We have to end this soon." She stated. "You remember Plan N?" She asked and Sasuke nodded. "Well then get ready!" She said as she gained a running start and jumped over Azul. She sprayed more of the slime over Azul and landed behind him.

"It doesn't hurt but it's annoying as hell." Azul said as he made hand signs. Sasuke however, beat him to it and sucked in a quick breath.

"**Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!**" Azul was surprised by this and even more when the slime all over him ignited and set him ablaze. Sakura took this opportunity to run up to him and punch him from within the flames.

However, she wasn't expecting Azul to reach out and grab her fist.

"SAKURA!" Sasuke shouted in worry and Azul chuckled evilly.

"You may be strong for a girl…" Azul brought his face close to Sakura even as the flame still burned him. "But I'm still stronger." He reared his free fist back and punched Sakura in the stomach and let her go, sending her flying through the forest.

"Bastard." Sasuke ran through hand signs. The three tomoes in his eyes spun as he summoned up a lot of his chakra. When he finished, lightning covered his entire left hand.

"**Chidori!**" Sprouting his wings, Sasuke took to the skies and at the highest point, he flew down and straight for Azul. Azul smirked as he watched Sasuke head for him. The Chidori dispersed in Sasuke's hand and instead of flying away, Sasuke turned and kicked Azul in the face.

"Brat." Azul changed into water and his water clone burst. Sasuke landed and looked around, not noticing Azul's reflecting in the water under him.

"**Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu!**" Sasuke was engulfed by a sphere of water and Azul laughed as he rose from the water.

"I'm going to keep you there until I see the last air bubble escape your mouth." Azul said as he watched Sasuke sit in the water prison with what looked like boredom. "Hmm?" Sasuke opened his mouth and started talking but his words were incoherent.

"What?" Azul started to lose his patience and blew up the prison. Sasuke fell to his feet and kicked Azul's feet under him.

"I said you're worse than the dobe." Sasuke answered before talking out his katana and stabbing Azul in the stomach. Azul laughed.

"You think a simple stab with stop me?" He asked and Sasuke smirked.

"Not by as long shot." He said as electricity sparked from the guard of the katana and went down to the tip inside Azul. Azul's smirk was removed as he felt his body slowly become numb. After a few minutes of the shocking, Sasuke removed his sword and watched Azul's body twitch from the electricity. Sasuke looked in the direction that Sakura probably was.

"Don't take your eyes off an opponent, fool!" Azul shouted as he grabbed onto Sasuke's leg.

"Wha-AH!" Sasuke was shocked up to the point that his skin started to burn and all his arms and legs lost functions. He fell into a heap of skin and bones, along with electricity. His ksin was burned and smoke was coming out of him. Blood was steadily flowing out of his mouth, ears and eyes.

"Fool." Azul stood up and looked at the ruin.

***.*.*.***

Kakashi and Kiba, along with Akamaru panted as Kimiko giggled with a bit of pant.

"This is fun." She said and Kakashi and Kiba snarled.

"Maybe for you!" Kakashi shouted.

"It's not like we can just play whack-a-snow-mole all day!" Kiba shouted. They were surrounded by a gaint ice dome and snow continually rained down on them. With their dog armor out, they were able to increase their speeds and strength however, Kimiko was just too fast.

"Seriously, when are you going to pass out from chakra exhaustion?" Kiba asked and Kimiko just giggled.

"AS far as you're concerned, I never will." She said as she receded back into the snow and disappeared. Kakashi and Kiba sighed while Akamaru kept a look out.

"This would probably be a good time to jump huh?" Kakashi asked and Kiba nodded as the three of them jumped away just as a snow tiger appeared from under them and try to consume them.

"**Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!**" Kakashi shouted as he breathed out a fireball the size of the tiger, melting it and the snow around it.

"Aw, you melted my kitty." Kimiko said as she emerged from the snow.

"'Kitty?' That was not a stupid kitty." Kiba shouted and Kimiko pouted, making him blush.

"You're mean. Go away! **Ice Style: Gale Snowstorm!**" She shouted as snow started to rain down harder and a wind past Kiba. He was blown away and almost hit the ice dome but was caught by Akamaru.

"Thanks, pal." Akamaru barked and Kiba got on his back.

"Let's go!" Akamaru charged forward and when he was close enough, Kiba stood on his back and jumped.

"**Fang over Fang!**" He shouted as he and Akamaru spun quickly and headed for Kimiko. Kimiko giggled as she summoned a wall of ice to protect her.

"**Ice Style: Iced Shield!**" Kiba and Akamaru hit the ice shield and were halted.

"Keep going, buddy!" Kiba shouted as he put more speed into his attack. Kimiko continued to giggle before her ice shield cracked and Kiba burst through. "AH!" Kiba was able scratch Kimiko's left leg and Akamaru scratched her right arm.

She righted herself in midair and landed on her knees, holding her right arm. She panted as she watched Kiba and Akamaru also fall.

"That took… almost all… of my chakra." Kiba said lowly and Akamaru whined in agreement.

"I can still escape…" Kimiko said to herself as she stood and walked away from Kiba until she bumped into Kakashi who was eye smiling.

"Hi." He said before he opened his spinning Sharingan eye and knocked her unconscious. She fell in Kakahsi's hands and he let out a sigh in relief.

"That was really something." Kakashi said and Kiba smiled tiredly. The ice dome surrounding them shattered and it stopped snowing.

"Finally." Kiba stated before losing consciousness as well. AKamaru also fell asleep and Kakashi tied Kimiko up and put her next to a nearby tree.

"Hmm…" Kakashi watched as what remained of the ice dome fell down to the ground. _'It looked more like someone shattered the dome…'_

"**Water Style: Raging Waves!**" Kakashi jumped back as a wave hit Kimiko and carried her away. Thinking quickly, Kakashi saved Kimiko from drowning and crouched down to set her down gently on dry land. He looked up and saw Azul a few feet away.

"You're quick, I'll give you that." Azul said and Kakashi frowned.

"You don't have any regard for your comrade." Azul laughed.

"Comrade? I barely consider her an acquaintance." Azul bellowed. Kakashi's eyes narrowed.

"Is that so?" Kakashi stood and faced him. "So, are you here to fight me?" Kakashi asked and Azul smirked.

"It depends, are you a worthy fighter?" Azul asked and Kakashi remained passive as sparks of electricity sparked in his right hand. "Ah, you are also a lightning user? I just fought one and I am disappointed to say the least." Kakashi's eyes tensed.

"So, you fought my student?" Kakashi asked and Azul blinked before smiling once more.

"_Your_ student? You don't say? Well then this should be real quick." Azul said as he cracked his knuckles. Kakashi's whole hand was enveloped in blue lightning and his dog armor covered his both his arms and legs.

"I might've taught Sasuke everything he knows but…" Kakashi disappeared and reappeared with his hand through Azul's stomach, making the man throw up blood. "I still have a couple of trickes up my sleeve." He removed his lightning covered hand and pushed Azul back.

Azul took a few steps back before laughing. He covered his wound with his hands before he removed them and the hole in his stomach was gone. Kakashi just stared at him.

"High-speed regeneration?" Azul nodded and Kakashi shook his head. "Why are all you S-rank groups so weird?" Kakashi asked no one in particular. He sighed and looked up at Azul with tired eyes.

"You're putting me in a tight spot. I can either go all out and finish you off or…" Kakahsi asked seriously. "We could just play rock-paper-scissors and decide who wins by that." Azul shook his head before smiling and getting into a fighting stance. "So it's going to be like that huh? Fine…"

Kakashi closed his eyes and sighed before he opened them again.

"The only way to deal with you and your regeneration is to finish you off in one blow." Kakashi said as Azul watched him charge up.

"You're crazy. I'd have to be completely obliterated to be killed. I won't be defeated by just one blow."Azul boasted and Kakashi smirked.

"Just watch. **Shadow Clone Jutsu!**" Two more Kakashis appeared and surrounded Azul.

"That's it? Two Shadow Clones?" Zaul asked, clearly not impressed.

"Oh its more than that." All three repeated as they each made different hand signs.

"**Fire Style: Flaming Dragon!**" A dragon made of fire burst out of the first Kakashi's mouth and headed for Azul.

"**Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!**" A dragon made of water appeared from the melted snow and rushed towards Azul as well.

"What?"

"**Wind Style: Air Bullet! Elemental Style: Kami's Tornado!**" The last and original Kakashi shouted as all three of the elements merged and created an elemental tornado around Azul. Azule's eyes were wide as his body was being destroyed before his very eyes.

Kakashi panted heavily as he fell to his knees and watched the tornado die down. When it was completely gone, only Azul's head remained. His eyes were half open as he stared tiredly at Kakashi.

"Fool, I will revive my former body to its former glory and when that day comes, you better be ready." He said before closing them completely. Kakashi smirked.

"Hopefully, that won't be anytime soon."

* * *

**I know, I know, this chapter sucked... give me a break, I'm tired...**

**Even though I only showed parts of the fight, I will completely show Naruto/Hinata's fight with Akio... i promise... in the next chapter...**

**As for Kakashi, I get the feeling that someone will complain that he's too strong but I just want to say that he was already strong to begin with... besides, I got his last attack idea from one of his finishers in Naruto Ultimate Ninja 4... **

**Man, Minato sure got pwned... Poor guy...**

**Will he die?**

**...**

**Yes...**

**Can I change my mind?**

**...**

**Yes, but not likely...**

**Don't get me wrong,I like him but at the moment, his death is necessary... Or at least, he needs to be in a coma or something but it'd be too troublesome to have him in a coma so death it is...**

**We'll, for now it is...**

**Hope you enjoyed it ^^;**

**Next Chapter: A Fool with Dreams...**

**Sorry for the confusion ^^;;;**

**Till next time!**

**********Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**  



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